Punk Rockies

One thing nearly all Rockies fans can agree on is that Dick Monfort, the owner of their beloved baseball team, is an impediment to their success. The team has never won the National League West, and their five playoff appearances have netted just one pennant in the magical 2007 season. Several off-field miscues, from the forced trade of Nolan Arenado, and the signing of Kris Bryant, to the non-trades of Daniel Bard, Trevor Story, Jon Gray, and others have made the franchise a punch line across baseball.

The prevailing narrative is that Monfort is happy to just let the Rockies wallow in mediocrity (or worse) while fans pour through the gates of Coors Field to spend their cash on a bad product. That story doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, however, as ownership has shown a willingness to spend. It’s just that they don’t do it wisely, and the reason is more about him thinking like a fan and perhaps caring too much.

Like a fantasy owner that fills his team with hometown favorites, Monfort becomes attached to the players (and staff) of his team, often believing them to be better than they are and thinking that they will improve beyond what they have shown (see Rodgers, Montero) or return to the level they once played at (see Bryant, Blackmon). This was certainly the case when Monfort told a group in Greeley before the 2023 season that he thought the club was a .500 team despite losing 94 the prior year (they went on to lose a club record 103 games).

You’ll hear a lot from Monfort about guys who “want to play in Colorado” as some sort of magic phrase that makes him whip out the checkbook. Even beyond the $182 million albatross of a Bryant contract, Charlie Blackmon got about $8 million too much on his $13 million 2024 extension and Daniel Bard’s ill-advised $19 million extension (instead of trading him at his peak value) were made out of some sort of loyalty rather than as good baseball decisions.

And that’s really the key word in bad baseball decisions lately: loyalty. This drives questionable moves like the above contract debacles, but also front office moves such as Bill Schmidt’s ascension to GM and numerous other promote-from-within moves when an outside perspective is obviously needed. Monfort wants to win, but he wants to do so with his guys even when they aren’t equipped to do so.

Monfort told Denver Post reporter Troy Renck this spring that “there were a lot of people from the outside who interviewed or had interest (in their GM opening). They would tell me how to win at altitude and everything they mentioned, it would not have worked, or it’s all things we have tried.” Monfort went on to praise his loyalty to current staff by adding that “the combination of smart baseball people who work hard, who are trustworthy, loyal and all want to win in Colorado, that’s a damn good combination.”

Like with the players, you can certainly pay someone to want to win in Colorado even if they aren’t longtime Rockies staff. And just because you’ve tried something before doesn’t mean it was executed correctly. This kind of stubbornness is what has led to five straight losing seasons with another assuredly on the way.

Maybe the current multi-season stretch of terrible baseball will force Monfort to do things differently and bring in creative minds that focus on analytics and altitude-resistant skill sets. The new pitching lab in Arizona is a start, but much more needs to be done. Until the Rockies are able to make hard decisions about underperforming players and staff, fans (including Monfort) are in for more of the same.