Punk Rockies

The Rockies have just lost their 50th game before even winning 10, which of course is the worst start in MLB history. There is no shortage of blame for the team’s woes; as their hitting, pitching and defense all rank by nearly every metric as the worst in baseball.

I won’t go over all the numbers, since that is being dissected daily by now national media figures. What we can do, though, is put this roster squarely on the shoulders of Rockies GM Bill Schmidt. Taking over on an interim basis when Jeff Bridich was forced out resigned in April 2021 and being installed permanently after a surely thorough search, Schmidt has now been at the reigns for five seasons and has to own this roster. It isn’t a good one.

Looking back on Schmidt’s inglorious reign as GM, here are some what-ifs that could have drastically changed the Rockies’ fortunes going forward:

Signing Kyle Schwarber instead of Kris Bryant
March 2022
Volumes have been and will be written about the huge mistake the Rockies made in signing an already declining Kris Bryant to seven year, $182 million contract on March 17, 2022. But did you know that on the SAME DAY the ink was wet on that contract, Kyle Schwarber signed with the Phillies for a much more reasonable 4 years/$79M?

Imagine the Schwarbombs flying out of Coors Field over the last several years! Schwarber has put up an 8.8 WAR thus far on his contract, while Bryant has been worth a sorry -1.5 (yes, negative) WAR and still has three years of getting paid $26mil annually.

Trading Trevor Story and Jon Gray
July 2021
Everyone in the baseball world expected the Rockies to deal Trevor Story at the 2021 trade deadline, including Story himself. When the deadline passed and he was still with Colorado, Story said “I’m confused and don’t really have anything good to say about the situation and how it unfolded.” So say we all.

Schmidt totally overvalued a comp pick (who turned out to be Sterlin Thompson who has just now reached AAA) for Story and also miscalculated on Jon Gray, who he thought he could re-sign but opted to take an offer from the Rangers. There certainly was some talent out there to be had for both, but inertia ruled the day.

Trading Ryan McMahon
July 2020
In a(nother) lost season for a Rockies team headed for its second-straight 100-loss season, Ryan McMahon was a shining star (and all-star) at the break. With 14 homers and an OBP of .350 at the break, and with his usual top-shelf defense, McMahon could have commanded a great haul had Schmidt been willing to deal him. He didn’t, and RyMac cratered in the second half of the season and hasn’t regained form in 2025 either.

Not Re-Signing Antonio Senzatela
October 2021
Schmidt signed Antonio Senzatela to a five-year extension after the 2021 season for $50 million. He’s been the worst pitcher in MLB this year and still has two more seasons after this at $12mil per year.

Not Signing Profar/Cave/Martini
Every Year
Despite the years-long logjam in the outfield of promising young players, Schmidt has consistently used the Rockies’ finite resources to bring in a “veteran presence” in the outfield, with objectively poor outcomes. Jurickson Profar gave the Rockies a -1.6 WAR in 2023 before being released late in the season, Jake Cave a -0.7 in 2024, and Nick Martini didn’t make it to June before being released. All of these could have been filled by a younger (and cheaper) player with at least as good results and provided valuable experience along the way.

Drafting Jac Caglianone
July 2024
I get that it’s too soon to definitively say that Charlie Condon is a bust by any means, but you have to be green with envy to see the Royals calling up Jac Caglianone less than a year after he was drafted (two spots after the Rockies took Condon). Caglianone has hit 15 home runs this year alone in less than 200 at bats in the minors, with an OPS over 1.000 in AAA. Condon, who has missed most of the season with a wrist fracture, has yet to show much power at all in his professional career, with just two homers in nearly 200 at bats.

Of course, even with these scenarios playing out they way hindsight dictates, the Rockies still might not be a very good team. But this is a historically terrible team destined for at least three straight 100-loss seasons, and when your best transaction Nolan Jones is flipped for a mediocre utility guy, you may not be cut out to be an MLB GM.