Rooting for the Sake of Rooting

The Colorado Rockies have one of the most incompetent, unfeeling front offices in baseball. Nothing encapsulates their shortcomings more than the trade that sent Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals, just 2 years after he signed a record extension to stay in LoDo.

When the Rockies announced an 8-year, $260 million dollar extension to keep the face of their franchise in purple and grey, I was shocked. The best third baseman of our generation wants to spend his prime with the inescapably mediocre Rockies?? It was a dream this Coloradan couldn’t quite comprehend.

Besides winning 8-straight Gold Gloves, Nolan Arenado is a perennial 30 double/30 homer/100 RBI hitter, overacheiving those marks every year from 2015 on (barring the 60-game pandemic-shortened 2020 season). When GM Jeff Bridich began negotiations to lock that production down, it was on the heels of the Rockies’ first back-to-back playoff berths in their 29-year history.

Yet only two years later, it felt inevitable Arenado would be traded. After the breakup, Bridich heartlessly remorsed “we are in a business where relationships don’t last forever... [it’s not] always peaches and cream.” Some consolation to his adoring fans! Two months later, Bridich’s tumultuous tenure came to an inevitable demise.

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Arenado signed that deal in February 2019 with assurances from the ownership that they’d spend more money to contend. That hope was diminished over the rest of the offseason, however, as starting second baseman DJ Lemahieu and set-up man/slider-extraordinaire Adam Ottavino both left to sign with the Yankees.

Otto grew up in Brooklyn and was ready for greener pastures; but fans were deeply disappointed that Lemahieu, known for using his 6’4” frame to smother anything hit in his direction, was allowed to leave. Having led his position with 18 defensive runs saved, the team replaced him with 33-year-old defensive liability Daniel Murphy. The veteran eventually moved full-time to first, pushing Ryan McMahon to second. (Drafted at third base, McMahon had previously moved to first to accommodate Arenado). Exacerbating fans’ frustrations, the two players signed for identical deals (2 years-$24 million) yet Lemahieu finished 4th in AL MVP voting - winning the batting title for the second time in his career and hitting 26 home runs to his replacement’s 13.

Even more maddening: the Rockies couldn’t find one measly reliever that offseason. The fact that ownership managed to secure only ONE major-league signing the offseason after reaching the NLDS is a surefire sign of front-office futility. Consequently, they ended the year with the second-worst bullpen ERA in the NL (5.18), conceding the most hits and home runs. The team finished 71-91, 4th in the NL West.

The Rockies cratered since getting swept by the Brewers in the 2017 NLDS. Over the course of the season, reports indicated that Arenado and Bridich weren’t on speaking terms. Feeling disenchanted and disrespected, the face of the team wanted out. Keen not to lose him for nothing when his opt-out clause kicked in after 2020, Bridich traded Arenado to the Cardinals and paid over $50 million to cover the cost, returning one mid-rotation starter and not a single top 100 prospect. In concurrence with Rockies fans, CBS Sports gave the deal a resounding F.

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In retrospect, those back-to-back wild card games in 2017 and 2018 look more and more like a fluke. What’s not? Bridich’s history at GM.

When the Rockies needed a first baseman to add firepower in the middle of the lineup, who did he turn to? Shortstop-converted-center-fielder Ian Desmond, whose 5 year - $70 million experiment to play a new position proved a complete bust. When closer Greg Holland became a free agent after 2017? He signed three relievers to 3-year deals worth a combined $106 million, all of whom struggled miserably. In an era where bullpen depth reigns, only one other reliever received a three-year guarantee that offseason. After a 38 double/35 homer/23 steal 2019, did Bridich capitalize on Trevor Story’s value and two years of control in the trade market? Nope! He let Story slump around on a hopeless team before stepping down early in the 2021 season, leaving the shortstop for interim GM Bill Schmidt to deal with. (Schmidt couldn’t find a deal midseason and will instead make him a qualifying offer, accepting the compensatory draft pick when Story inevitably signs elsewhere.)

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On October 2nd - before the regular season had officially ended and without interviewing anybody else for the position - Rockies ownership removed the interim tag from Bill Schmidt, making him the 4th GM in the team’s short history. The former Vice President of scouting joined the Rockies in 1999 along with Dan O’Dowd via the Cleveland Indians. When O’Dowd decided not to extend his tenure with the team in 2014, they (duh) hired from within, giving right-hand-man Bridich the reins. It remains to be seen whether Schmidt is just another tool for CEO Dick Monfort to preserve the status quo, or if he has plans to revise the role Rockies’ ownership plays in producing a winning product.

The Rockies have boasted a top-ten average game attendance in six of the past eight years, a stat by which the Monfort’s measure their success. It justifies the 2014 construction of the right field party deck, the Rooftop, a $10 million investment to entice LoDo bar-hoppers to actually enter the stadium rather than watch the game at any bar in the area. There’s no doubt of the Rooftop’s success, but that popularity neglects the reason ownership removed 3,500 seats in the first place:

Coors Field has had far too few opportunies to fill up the third deck. Since the aforementioned O’Dowd braintrust arrived in LoDo 22 years ago, the Rockies have played a whopping eight home playoff games, losing the last five straight! A team known for winning at home hasn’t done it in the postseason since the 2007 NLCS. And we all know how that World Series went.

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Attendance-wise, next year is looking bleak. Let’s just say, the record set in their inaugural season, when nearly 4.5 million showed up to cheer 81 home games at Mile High Stadium, is not within the realm of possibility.

The Rockies are saying their goodbyes to star shortstop Story and their sometimes ace Jon Gray; the team they leave behind will be a shell of the one that won 91 games in 2018. Aside from stud starter German Marquez and 35-year-old right fielder Charlie Blackmon, you’d be hard pressed to find a Rockies fan that can name another current player.

I’ve never understood the casual type that go to games for the atmosphere. Fenway, okay, talk to me; but Coors? As a true baseball fan, I’d rather stay home - subjecting myself to the incessant “Subaru Strike Zone” in-game advertisements - than put money directly into the Monfort’s pockets. I’ve left the ballpark disappointed too many times…

For the sake of the on-field product, I hope Bill Schmidt lives his tenure as GM by a different measure of success than the past two. Fans should come to Coors Field for the baseball! In 29 years, though, the issue remains the same: how to consistently contend at altitude.

The Rockies analytics department currently employs two full-time researchers. That’s no joke. Monfort promised cutbacks because of Covid, but I would take interns at this point! During the 2019 season, Blackmon went to the department for help dealing with the difference in pitch rotation at elevation compared to sea level. By all indications, the response was “sorry, Charlie, we can’t help you.” Taking it upon himself to resolve a Mile High issue, he workshopped an idea with hitting coach Dave Magadan that was quickly adopted by the rest of the team, leading to notable improvement away from home (albeit in a short sample size). That right there is a story of success despite incompetence; that is the story of the Colorado Rockies.

Who knows, maybe Schmidt watched Moneyball? Maybe he has a soft spot for the analytic revolution sweeping baseball, turning the Athletics and the Rays of the world into perennial contenders? Maybe he believes in modernization and learning from past mistakes? But more likely, he’ll twiddle his thumbs dutifully and pray to catch magic like that remarkable Rocktober run in 2007, when the team won 21 of 22 games to reach the pinnacle of baseball.

For good or for bad, us Rockies fans will still be here, rooting for the sake of rooting... willing the next batch of lovable losers to stumble into contention. Until the Monfort’s move over, there’s little more that we can do but hope.