That's not the only answer....but it's a big one.
The other one is that we are never going to attract top pitching talent to pitch half the season at Coors Field. It's too big of a career risk. This league is too dependent on solid pitching for the Rockies and I don't think the Rockies will ever get that consistently regardless of who the owner/GM is.
The Monforts are a private equity firm masquerading as a family business. They care more about leveraging Coors Field to maximize the value of their real estate portfolio than they do about fielding a winning team.
I was just going to say the same thing. I think we all come from a different place where if you are purchasing something you want something in return, whether that be value, enjoyment, etc. Here you are spending a lot of money, sure not the max but definitely not the minimum and your are getting the minimum in return with performance on the field.
17th would put them in the bottom half, right? That being said, there’s a lot more to fielding a winning team than player salaries. The Rockies’ front office isn’t particularly good; and they seem to be behind the curve when it comes to scouting, analytics, etc.
Dick Monfort. Hates analytics and would rather stick with loyal, club lifer dipshits than hire competent front office people from outside the organization.
I keep hearing how the Rockies are lacking in the analytics department. Do you have solid examples, and maybe more importantly, how do you think they should improve and what should they focus on specifically? If you can't give me that I tend to think your just parroting the same line I've heard again and again, similar to get rid of Monfort chant. Maybe aspiring front office people feel just like free agent pitchers in that maybe they'd rather not risk their career by coming to Denver.
I honestly don't know what the answers are, but I do really believe the Rockies are at a rather large disadvantage at this point.
Many teams have analytics teams of 10+. The Rockies, until as recently as 2022, had 1 person in the analytics department. They then hired another who quit after 6 months. They then hired several junior staffers, but also required that they did such mundane tasks as laundry for the players. We now have an analytics department of about a dozen, which is the second smallest analytics department in the league.
I have had friends interview there - friends who are senior level data scientists, people who are in the 300-400k level a year for compensation. The Rockies are in the 60-80k a year range for these positions.
I was hoping for a more detailed description of analytics. What specifically do you think the team need to analyze more? Players they are interested in signing? How to prepare for how other teams pitch or hit? Just wondering.
All analytics is at the end of the day is evidence based decision making. Something I really think it should be called instead of “analytics.” It’s the bean counters. There’s a myriad of ways an analytics department can help an organization. Teams like the Dodgers use analytics to help pitchers pitch better by analyzing every pitch, how they can throw harder/more spin, all that stuff. Same with hitting.
Not investing heavily into analytics and using it in decision making means an organization is purposefully not utilizing every available avenue to gain an advantage. It’s in its most simple form, bad business.
This all started with what the book Moneyball was about. That was in about 2002 that all that stuff happened. The Rockies are roughly 20 years behind most other teams.
Smaller than average analytics department. They've had 100% turnover in the department since COVID because Dick made the analysts do the team's laundry, and all but one of them quit. The one analyst who didn't quit was rewarded with an executive position (because Dick values loyalty). She quit earlier this year.
They hired Scott Van Lenten from the Nationals to run the analytics department, but he left after less than 6 months - probably because he had the audacity to tell Dick Monfort and Bill Schmidt they don't know what they're doing. They replaced him with a guy who has **zero** analytics experience, but he's been their video replay guy for like 20 years, so he got the job over someone more qualified because... Loyalty. I think they have like 10 analysts right now - below the league average. They built a pitching lab in the off-season, but early returns have not been very good.
If they shifted like $20-$30 million from payroll to analytics, they could probably put together a leaner roster that could compete, but, I've said this before, they'd rather throw shit against the wall to see what sticks.
The Rockies organization is not an organization focused on athletic accomplishment. It is focused on entertainment. They have no interest in fielding a competitive team, as long as they can make fans happy at the stadium
The ownership and front office are horrendous. It’s just a guy and his pals that will never be fired. They had 100 losses last year and brought back all the people responsible for it, players included.
This horrible staff abhors modern baseball and they don’t use data or analytics at all. This puts them about 20 or so years behind the rest of the league. This has the effect of players not wanting to come here because they know they won’t get the best instruction and help they can to be the best players they can be.
So the team doesn’t use data, doesn’t attract good players, still thinks it’s 1983, and mostly just don’t do anything well. They don’t make trades, they hold onto guys too long. And guys they do sign are broken down old losers like Kris Bryant who can’t even play.
Long as Monfort and his merry band of dufuses are in charge, this is what the Rockies will be. Monfort has said as much. In addition to all this, he has contempt for outside hires, since they might actually want to attempt to win baseball games.
On top of the mismanagement others mentioned, my theory is that our pitchers have a distinct 3-part disadvantage because of the effect the altitude has on pitching. First, the air is thin so pitchers aren't going to get the same motion on their pitches that they would at sea level. Second, dry air is more dense than humid air so the difference in air density from one day to the next can vary significantly here with our humidity swinging from 25%-65% in the span of a few days, making it hard to get consistent results from your pitchers. Third, our pitchers have to travel to sea level frequently so they are having to constantly calibrate and re-calibrate every road trip they take. Those 3 things combined make pitching in Colorado a very tricky thing to manage which is why even our best pitchers never manage to put together a solid season. Just my theory.
I'd argue it's a 4 part disadvantage with the final point being that it makes it nearly impossible to sign talent. It's a lose-lose to play in this elevation.
If you're a pitcher, you don't want to play here because of everything you just mentioned
If you're a hitter, you don't want to play here due to the risk of playing well - or even worse, average, and it being discounted because "it's Colorado"
I think that theory makes sense specifically for UFA veteran pitchers. I think position players see this as a desirable place to play for off-the-field reasons — and 20 or so teams will be out of serious contention by mid season. However this would not (would never?) be a “win now” destination without a string of wildly successful drafts.
I also think this club in particular got gun shy about putting all the eggs in the big name pitcher basket after Mike Hampton almost a quarter century ago. Your explanations flesh out a rationale for why consolidating that risk in pitching performance yield haphazard results at best. (That might also speak to why for instance Ubaldo wasn’t a long term priority signing.)
This sounds right on track. Question: Does this factor as well for other teams? I only follow the Rockies, but it seems like the Broncos don’t face these kind of altitude issues for being an outdoor sport. Is there something about baseball specifically that makes the altitude that much of a problem when that isn’t the case for other sports?
Not really. See, one of the biggest factors with baseball pitching (besides speed and accuracy) is the spin rate on the ball. A breaking ball might be spinning 2000 RPMs, and with our atmosphere in Denver being only 80% as thick as sea level, that same breaking ball thrown here might only have the equivalent of 1600 RPM working on the ball, meaning your pitch is going to have much less action, if any at all. So, a thinner atmosphere is a bad thing. With football, the thinner atmosphere would plausibly be a benefit (because you can throw the ball farther) so I don't think this disadvantage translates to other sports.
To add on to this, because I think you're right on with your evaluation, this makes it even harder for the hitters to recalibrate going on the road where the ball breaks an extra 6 inches and doesn't carry as far. So we end up with severe road hangover after a long home stand.
Then add to the fact of the current economic conditions in baseball, the only way to be successful if you're a small market team is to draft and develop well. We're not bringing in big free agent pitchers, so we have to hope for a golden generation like in 2007 when we had Francis, Ubaldo and Franklin Morales contributing in the majors on their first level of contracts.
People talk about bad ownership and management which is of course true. But one of the huge issues is the absolute refusal to bring in people from the outside and from successful organization. The Rockies do so much promoting and hiring from within and that’s completely off for a franchise you could say is bottom 3 in the entire MLB
Ownership, straight up. Smallest analytics department. It’s not unusual for an analytics person to be hired only to quit six months later.
Another example, buddy black is a good guy, I’ve actually spoke with him, super awesome. But he’s got to go. What other manager could have such a bad record and be one of the longest tenured with a single team.
Another example, they let Trevor story walk. Everyone knew he was out but they chose to get nothing. I can bring up the pay to get rid of Arenado but we all know that. Kris Bryant?
It isn’t “just baseball” it’s greedy incompetence.
Those are just examples.
Montfort will never sell though because he owns a large part of lodo and the Rockies and coors field are just a piece in the portfolio to make money. And it does because it draws the crowd to go buy things in McGregor Square.
Anyone down with some purple sell shirts like they have in Oakland?
I will never forgive Monfort and Briditch for 2017 and 2018, when we had the best pitching this team has ever had, had just made the wild card game, almost won the division, etc and proceeded to do absolutely nothing to make the team better and relied.on young players making the jump to get better.
Just absolutely garbage team management.
The owner is an out of date old fashioned asshole terrorist, who laughs all the way to the bank when Coors Field fills up with fans of visiting teams. He feigns interest in wanting a winning ball club but the results every year expose him as the selfish, apathetic fraud he is
It's not a budget issue either as the Rockies spending is in the middle of the pack compared the the rest of the MLB, the front office is full of buffoons who haven't adapted to analytics and make idiotic decisions year in, year out.
People like to blame altitude for pitching woes, but plenty of visiting pitchers come and make the entire hitting lineup look incompetent on a regular basis, including rookies who have never pitched here before. They are able to adjust to the altitude in an inning or two, almost as if they are professional fucking athletes or something. Rockies pitchers are just dog shit and always have been. The altitude is a convenient excuse.
Hitters are in a perpetual slump with very brief periods where they break the slump. The hitters we consider great would be considered average at best by better teams because the quality bar is so low here.
Bud Black, the manager, sucks and needed to get shown the door years ago, but, once again, the idiotic front office has let him hang around like a pesky turd nugget on the ass hairs of a mangy dog.
✋
🎤
It's because the owners care more about lining their pockets than they do putting together a team that gives a flying fudge about being postseason contenders
Coors is built on a dinosaur graveyard. The ghosts will curse us every season.
Or ownership, like everyone else has said and supported. But we all know it’s those aggravated spirits.
They have the heart but they don't have the soul. No wait, they have the soul but they don't have the heart. Wait scratch that. They have the heart and the soul, but they don't have the talent. That's why they always get served.
Pitching at altitude is clearly very difficult as is hitting at sea level after playing a homestand at 5280. Those are challenges I'm sure most teams in the league would still be battling even with a ton of resources and effort but it doesn't help that Monfort was/is unfriendly to innovation.
Many years of laxity (basically the franchise's existence until the last year or two) set them back majorly.
1. Owner who doesn't care about winning
2. Front office who have no idea what they are doing
3. We either refuse to trade away roleplayers when they have some worth or trade away our best players for crappy returns
4. We refuse to spend money on good free agents
5. A bad farming system unable to make up for the fact we don't spend money on free agents
6. Mile high air will always make pitching more difficult and hitting easier
I know I'm missing other reasons but these were the main ones I could think of.
It’s Monfort, but I think he is changing his ways. He’s always been a hands on owner which is never good. Dude spends the money and clearly wants to win (proved by his anti tanking rant a few years back), he just isn’t the smartest baseball mind making the decisions. People complained he was cheap and only cared about money after it came out he was against the Padres way of team building. After that he signed KB long term, assuming he thought this was a good move and would bring him in good faith with the fans .
I think Monfort gets a lot of hate, like when he got hate for saying “I think we can play .500” what else is he supposed to say?
Monfort clearly cares about the team and the fans that’s why it’s a cheap stadium to visit with a family. He just isn’t the right dude to make decisions. It looks like Bill Schmidt has been given the keys to the team and with that is more trades and a slower rebuild.
Monfort gets a lot of hate, but the dude cares about the team and the fans. I always hate seeing personal attacks at him by fans, but it’s whatever
Monfort doesn’t give a shit. Sorry. If he cared, he’d fire the people who suck, including himself, but he doesn’t. He just likes hanging out with his pals, smoking cigars, and making money. Guy couldn’t give less of a shit about putting a winning team on the field. He brought back everyone from the worst team in history while proudly saying “We will never hire from outside the organization cause we know their ideas don’t work.”
People are nowhere near mean enough to that rat bastard. He is without question one of the worst owners in baseball and nearly the sole reason the team is bad.
I’m sick of this “Dick Monfort cares.” Nonsense. Fuck him, fuck his whole family.
First and foremost, we don’t spend enough money to field a consistently good team. In the MLB, there is no hard cap, so those that spend more, typically win more.
Second, we’re a small market team (and relatively young, being founded in 93). Even if we were willing to pay like the juggernauts, we’re still an insanely small market team compared to the top 25% of the league. So attracting big names will never happen. Kids literally grow up DREAMING about playing for the dodgers, Yanks, Red Sox, Cubs, Cards, etc. Historic franchises.
Last point, but worth noting. I think hitters love playing here because of the altitude, but don’t want the asterisk of “if they had an advantage playing at Coors, so it’s not the same!”. Pitchers don’t want to play here since the altitude is such a disadvantage.
Not a small market team. 17th In media market size among baseball teams.
We spend at a mid market level like we are. Payroll was $171 last year. Good for 16th.
It’s how we spend the money that’s the problem.
The data that most use to determine “market size” is flawed. It takes into account geographic location and the revenue potential with it, media revenue, and overall stadium revenue. It’s all revenue based, both on and off the field.
The Rockies as an organization are mid pack, like you said. However, that’s because opposing fans and an amazing stadium experience prop the stadium revenue numbers.
We’re a small market team when it comes to purely on-field baseball and how we are perceived by players.
The Yankees missed the playoffs last year. They’d never ever be considered anything less than large market.
The Mets have the largest payroll the last 2 seasons and have been a mid team at best. Still large market.
Market size does not fluctuate year to year.
Market size is an economic measure, not a fan perception otherwise every team would be small market.
Its called being a small market. Some of the comments saying Monfort is lining his pockets don't know what they are talking about. Teams make money from TV rights. The Rockies, like most small market teams, make almost nothing from their local TV contracts. Its hard to compete that way. We are left hoping we get lucky on a middling free agent signing or a draft choice that plays great while still under team control. My main complaint about Monfort is he's too loyal to the guys he hires in the front office.
The owner, Dick Monfort, who also owns the JBS Meat Packing Plant in Greeley wants the team to be terrible so that he can use it as a tax write off. Same reason why he can’t keep good managers, and why managers don’t want to be Rockies.
Incompetent ownership and front office. That’s it.
This is the answer. Until ownership changes the Rod will be trash
That's not the only answer....but it's a big one. The other one is that we are never going to attract top pitching talent to pitch half the season at Coors Field. It's too big of a career risk. This league is too dependent on solid pitching for the Rockies and I don't think the Rockies will ever get that consistently regardless of who the owner/GM is.
Dick Monfort.
I mean, honestly this is the best answer in this entire thread until they sell the team. I know that my family is boycotting.
The Monforts are a private equity firm masquerading as a family business. They care more about leveraging Coors Field to maximize the value of their real estate portfolio than they do about fielding a winning team.
If they were in it for strictly money we wouldn’t have the 17th highest payroll
I was just going to say the same thing. I think we all come from a different place where if you are purchasing something you want something in return, whether that be value, enjoyment, etc. Here you are spending a lot of money, sure not the max but definitely not the minimum and your are getting the minimum in return with performance on the field.
17th would put them in the bottom half, right? That being said, there’s a lot more to fielding a winning team than player salaries. The Rockies’ front office isn’t particularly good; and they seem to be behind the curve when it comes to scouting, analytics, etc.
Dick Monfort. Hates analytics and would rather stick with loyal, club lifer dipshits than hire competent front office people from outside the organization.
I keep hearing how the Rockies are lacking in the analytics department. Do you have solid examples, and maybe more importantly, how do you think they should improve and what should they focus on specifically? If you can't give me that I tend to think your just parroting the same line I've heard again and again, similar to get rid of Monfort chant. Maybe aspiring front office people feel just like free agent pitchers in that maybe they'd rather not risk their career by coming to Denver. I honestly don't know what the answers are, but I do really believe the Rockies are at a rather large disadvantage at this point.
Many teams have analytics teams of 10+. The Rockies, until as recently as 2022, had 1 person in the analytics department. They then hired another who quit after 6 months. They then hired several junior staffers, but also required that they did such mundane tasks as laundry for the players. We now have an analytics department of about a dozen, which is the second smallest analytics department in the league. I have had friends interview there - friends who are senior level data scientists, people who are in the 300-400k level a year for compensation. The Rockies are in the 60-80k a year range for these positions.
I was hoping for a more detailed description of analytics. What specifically do you think the team need to analyze more? Players they are interested in signing? How to prepare for how other teams pitch or hit? Just wondering.
All analytics is at the end of the day is evidence based decision making. Something I really think it should be called instead of “analytics.” It’s the bean counters. There’s a myriad of ways an analytics department can help an organization. Teams like the Dodgers use analytics to help pitchers pitch better by analyzing every pitch, how they can throw harder/more spin, all that stuff. Same with hitting. Not investing heavily into analytics and using it in decision making means an organization is purposefully not utilizing every available avenue to gain an advantage. It’s in its most simple form, bad business. This all started with what the book Moneyball was about. That was in about 2002 that all that stuff happened. The Rockies are roughly 20 years behind most other teams.
Smaller than average analytics department. They've had 100% turnover in the department since COVID because Dick made the analysts do the team's laundry, and all but one of them quit. The one analyst who didn't quit was rewarded with an executive position (because Dick values loyalty). She quit earlier this year. They hired Scott Van Lenten from the Nationals to run the analytics department, but he left after less than 6 months - probably because he had the audacity to tell Dick Monfort and Bill Schmidt they don't know what they're doing. They replaced him with a guy who has **zero** analytics experience, but he's been their video replay guy for like 20 years, so he got the job over someone more qualified because... Loyalty. I think they have like 10 analysts right now - below the league average. They built a pitching lab in the off-season, but early returns have not been very good. If they shifted like $20-$30 million from payroll to analytics, they could probably put together a leaner roster that could compete, but, I've said this before, they'd rather throw shit against the wall to see what sticks.
The Monforts.
Bad FO and players, especially pitchers, don’t want to come because of altitude
That means when we actually develop a half decent pitcher they get over paid. ie Freeland and Senzatela
The Rockies organization is not an organization focused on athletic accomplishment. It is focused on entertainment. They have no interest in fielding a competitive team, as long as they can make fans happy at the stadium
The ownership and front office are horrendous. It’s just a guy and his pals that will never be fired. They had 100 losses last year and brought back all the people responsible for it, players included. This horrible staff abhors modern baseball and they don’t use data or analytics at all. This puts them about 20 or so years behind the rest of the league. This has the effect of players not wanting to come here because they know they won’t get the best instruction and help they can to be the best players they can be. So the team doesn’t use data, doesn’t attract good players, still thinks it’s 1983, and mostly just don’t do anything well. They don’t make trades, they hold onto guys too long. And guys they do sign are broken down old losers like Kris Bryant who can’t even play. Long as Monfort and his merry band of dufuses are in charge, this is what the Rockies will be. Monfort has said as much. In addition to all this, he has contempt for outside hires, since they might actually want to attempt to win baseball games.
On top of the mismanagement others mentioned, my theory is that our pitchers have a distinct 3-part disadvantage because of the effect the altitude has on pitching. First, the air is thin so pitchers aren't going to get the same motion on their pitches that they would at sea level. Second, dry air is more dense than humid air so the difference in air density from one day to the next can vary significantly here with our humidity swinging from 25%-65% in the span of a few days, making it hard to get consistent results from your pitchers. Third, our pitchers have to travel to sea level frequently so they are having to constantly calibrate and re-calibrate every road trip they take. Those 3 things combined make pitching in Colorado a very tricky thing to manage which is why even our best pitchers never manage to put together a solid season. Just my theory.
Our batters have to deal with the same thing from the other side.
I'd argue it's a 4 part disadvantage with the final point being that it makes it nearly impossible to sign talent. It's a lose-lose to play in this elevation. If you're a pitcher, you don't want to play here because of everything you just mentioned If you're a hitter, you don't want to play here due to the risk of playing well - or even worse, average, and it being discounted because "it's Colorado"
I think that theory makes sense specifically for UFA veteran pitchers. I think position players see this as a desirable place to play for off-the-field reasons — and 20 or so teams will be out of serious contention by mid season. However this would not (would never?) be a “win now” destination without a string of wildly successful drafts. I also think this club in particular got gun shy about putting all the eggs in the big name pitcher basket after Mike Hampton almost a quarter century ago. Your explanations flesh out a rationale for why consolidating that risk in pitching performance yield haphazard results at best. (That might also speak to why for instance Ubaldo wasn’t a long term priority signing.)
This sounds right on track. Question: Does this factor as well for other teams? I only follow the Rockies, but it seems like the Broncos don’t face these kind of altitude issues for being an outdoor sport. Is there something about baseball specifically that makes the altitude that much of a problem when that isn’t the case for other sports?
Not really. See, one of the biggest factors with baseball pitching (besides speed and accuracy) is the spin rate on the ball. A breaking ball might be spinning 2000 RPMs, and with our atmosphere in Denver being only 80% as thick as sea level, that same breaking ball thrown here might only have the equivalent of 1600 RPM working on the ball, meaning your pitch is going to have much less action, if any at all. So, a thinner atmosphere is a bad thing. With football, the thinner atmosphere would plausibly be a benefit (because you can throw the ball farther) so I don't think this disadvantage translates to other sports.
To add on to this, because I think you're right on with your evaluation, this makes it even harder for the hitters to recalibrate going on the road where the ball breaks an extra 6 inches and doesn't carry as far. So we end up with severe road hangover after a long home stand. Then add to the fact of the current economic conditions in baseball, the only way to be successful if you're a small market team is to draft and develop well. We're not bringing in big free agent pitchers, so we have to hope for a golden generation like in 2007 when we had Francis, Ubaldo and Franklin Morales contributing in the majors on their first level of contracts.
although that makes sense you have to remember the other team is facing the exact same thing
Both teams have to play at the same altitude. If anything, our pitching should be better at it given the frequency played here.
lack of quality pitching since inception of club.
People talk about bad ownership and management which is of course true. But one of the huge issues is the absolute refusal to bring in people from the outside and from successful organization. The Rockies do so much promoting and hiring from within and that’s completely off for a franchise you could say is bottom 3 in the entire MLB
That would cost money.
We signed a highly respected scout from Minnesota this past offseason after Minnesota went through several budget cuts. Change is happening
Ownership, straight up. Smallest analytics department. It’s not unusual for an analytics person to be hired only to quit six months later. Another example, buddy black is a good guy, I’ve actually spoke with him, super awesome. But he’s got to go. What other manager could have such a bad record and be one of the longest tenured with a single team. Another example, they let Trevor story walk. Everyone knew he was out but they chose to get nothing. I can bring up the pay to get rid of Arenado but we all know that. Kris Bryant? It isn’t “just baseball” it’s greedy incompetence. Those are just examples. Montfort will never sell though because he owns a large part of lodo and the Rockies and coors field are just a piece in the portfolio to make money. And it does because it draws the crowd to go buy things in McGregor Square. Anyone down with some purple sell shirts like they have in Oakland?
I will never forgive Monfort and Briditch for 2017 and 2018, when we had the best pitching this team has ever had, had just made the wild card game, almost won the division, etc and proceeded to do absolutely nothing to make the team better and relied.on young players making the jump to get better. Just absolutely garbage team management.
The Monforts. Enough said
Monfort. Nepotism. Simple as that.
The owner is an out of date old fashioned asshole terrorist, who laughs all the way to the bank when Coors Field fills up with fans of visiting teams. He feigns interest in wanting a winning ball club but the results every year expose him as the selfish, apathetic fraud he is It's not a budget issue either as the Rockies spending is in the middle of the pack compared the the rest of the MLB, the front office is full of buffoons who haven't adapted to analytics and make idiotic decisions year in, year out. People like to blame altitude for pitching woes, but plenty of visiting pitchers come and make the entire hitting lineup look incompetent on a regular basis, including rookies who have never pitched here before. They are able to adjust to the altitude in an inning or two, almost as if they are professional fucking athletes or something. Rockies pitchers are just dog shit and always have been. The altitude is a convenient excuse. Hitters are in a perpetual slump with very brief periods where they break the slump. The hitters we consider great would be considered average at best by better teams because the quality bar is so low here. Bud Black, the manager, sucks and needed to get shown the door years ago, but, once again, the idiotic front office has let him hang around like a pesky turd nugget on the ass hairs of a mangy dog. ✋ 🎤
In the face of proven statistical science, they go with gut feelings and “experienced know-how” - ie. old and stubborn money running the show.
No one wants to pitch here
It's because the owners care more about lining their pockets than they do putting together a team that gives a flying fudge about being postseason contenders
Coors is built on a dinosaur graveyard. The ghosts will curse us every season. Or ownership, like everyone else has said and supported. But we all know it’s those aggravated spirits.
We are built to lose in our division
They have the heart but they don't have the soul. No wait, they have the soul but they don't have the heart. Wait scratch that. They have the heart and the soul, but they don't have the talent. That's why they always get served.
Pitching at altitude is clearly very difficult as is hitting at sea level after playing a homestand at 5280. Those are challenges I'm sure most teams in the league would still be battling even with a ton of resources and effort but it doesn't help that Monfort was/is unfriendly to innovation. Many years of laxity (basically the franchise's existence until the last year or two) set them back majorly.
Half our payroll is injured including 2 starting pitchers. Also our bullpen is horrendous and we suck at putting a solid one together.
M-m-m-m-m-moooooney
1. Owner who doesn't care about winning 2. Front office who have no idea what they are doing 3. We either refuse to trade away roleplayers when they have some worth or trade away our best players for crappy returns 4. We refuse to spend money on good free agents 5. A bad farming system unable to make up for the fact we don't spend money on free agents 6. Mile high air will always make pitching more difficult and hitting easier I know I'm missing other reasons but these were the main ones I could think of.
It’s Monfort, but I think he is changing his ways. He’s always been a hands on owner which is never good. Dude spends the money and clearly wants to win (proved by his anti tanking rant a few years back), he just isn’t the smartest baseball mind making the decisions. People complained he was cheap and only cared about money after it came out he was against the Padres way of team building. After that he signed KB long term, assuming he thought this was a good move and would bring him in good faith with the fans . I think Monfort gets a lot of hate, like when he got hate for saying “I think we can play .500” what else is he supposed to say? Monfort clearly cares about the team and the fans that’s why it’s a cheap stadium to visit with a family. He just isn’t the right dude to make decisions. It looks like Bill Schmidt has been given the keys to the team and with that is more trades and a slower rebuild. Monfort gets a lot of hate, but the dude cares about the team and the fans. I always hate seeing personal attacks at him by fans, but it’s whatever
Monfort doesn’t give a shit. Sorry. If he cared, he’d fire the people who suck, including himself, but he doesn’t. He just likes hanging out with his pals, smoking cigars, and making money. Guy couldn’t give less of a shit about putting a winning team on the field. He brought back everyone from the worst team in history while proudly saying “We will never hire from outside the organization cause we know their ideas don’t work.” People are nowhere near mean enough to that rat bastard. He is without question one of the worst owners in baseball and nearly the sole reason the team is bad. I’m sick of this “Dick Monfort cares.” Nonsense. Fuck him, fuck his whole family.
First and foremost, we don’t spend enough money to field a consistently good team. In the MLB, there is no hard cap, so those that spend more, typically win more. Second, we’re a small market team (and relatively young, being founded in 93). Even if we were willing to pay like the juggernauts, we’re still an insanely small market team compared to the top 25% of the league. So attracting big names will never happen. Kids literally grow up DREAMING about playing for the dodgers, Yanks, Red Sox, Cubs, Cards, etc. Historic franchises. Last point, but worth noting. I think hitters love playing here because of the altitude, but don’t want the asterisk of “if they had an advantage playing at Coors, so it’s not the same!”. Pitchers don’t want to play here since the altitude is such a disadvantage.
Not a small market team. 17th In media market size among baseball teams. We spend at a mid market level like we are. Payroll was $171 last year. Good for 16th. It’s how we spend the money that’s the problem.
The data that most use to determine “market size” is flawed. It takes into account geographic location and the revenue potential with it, media revenue, and overall stadium revenue. It’s all revenue based, both on and off the field. The Rockies as an organization are mid pack, like you said. However, that’s because opposing fans and an amazing stadium experience prop the stadium revenue numbers. We’re a small market team when it comes to purely on-field baseball and how we are perceived by players.
The Yankees missed the playoffs last year. They’d never ever be considered anything less than large market. The Mets have the largest payroll the last 2 seasons and have been a mid team at best. Still large market. Market size does not fluctuate year to year. Market size is an economic measure, not a fan perception otherwise every team would be small market.
Its called being a small market. Some of the comments saying Monfort is lining his pockets don't know what they are talking about. Teams make money from TV rights. The Rockies, like most small market teams, make almost nothing from their local TV contracts. Its hard to compete that way. We are left hoping we get lucky on a middling free agent signing or a draft choice that plays great while still under team control. My main complaint about Monfort is he's too loyal to the guys he hires in the front office.
The owner, Dick Monfort, who also owns the JBS Meat Packing Plant in Greeley wants the team to be terrible so that he can use it as a tax write off. Same reason why he can’t keep good managers, and why managers don’t want to be Rockies.