The Colorado Rockies are reportedly nearing the finish line on a monumental decision and will be interviewing finalists to head their baseball operations. Unknown is if this hire will carry the title of “president of baseball operations” or “general manager,” but whomever is selected will have rippling consequences for years to come.
“This is one of the most crucial decisions the Rockies will ever have to make,” former player and current Rockies TV analyst Ryan Spilborghs told the Denver Post.
The three named candidates as reported by the Athletic all hail from other organizations and have no prior connections to the Rockies. It’s currently unknown who else—if anyone—the Rockies have interviewed.
Walker Monfort, the new executive vice president and the eldest son of CEO and owner Dick Monfort, appears to be making good on his promise to search outside of the organization following the resignations of former general manager Bill Schmidt and former assistant general manager Zach Rosenthal.
The eldest Monfort son appears to be taking the reigns of the organization, at least for now, but his father will obviously still have a prominent role as the one who signs the checks.
“He’s a partner in this. He’s still the ultimate decision-maker,” Walker Monfort said of his father. “In the end, we’re looking at getting this organization back to where it needs to be. And I think we can confidently say that we’re going to do what we can to do that.”
Dick Monfort is indeed the “ultimate decision-maker,” but what happens over the next few weeks is likely to show whether or not he’s willing to make the ultimate decisions.
If a true outsider is hired to run the Rockies’ baseball operations, it would represent a dramatic shift in front office culture, even more so if they are given the title of president of baseball operations, a role that has not been filled since the passing of Keli McGregor and a role that Monfort has largely assumed.
In another interesting development, Walker Monfort is reportedly hiring for a new position in the front office: a chief revenue and strategy officer.
“The job of the chief revenue and strategy officer would be to grow revenues to be reinvested back into baseball operations and the team,” a league source told the Denver Post.
Such a hire would be promising, as those kinds of decisions have generally been directly in the hands of Dick Monfort and his inner circle… often to disastrous results.
Dick Monfort’s control over baseball operations has led to the albatross contracts of Ian Desmond, the much-maligned “super bullpen,” and most recently Kris Bryant. When it comes to allocation of resources, voices within the organization have been clamoring for change.
Walker Monfort has seemed to have heard those voices.
“I’ve talked about doing a deep dive into what we’re doing and how we’re currently allocating our resources,” he told The Denver Post when he was promoted June. “Part of what we’re talking about here is looking at clubs. Milwaukee is an example. Cleveland is an example. Arizona is an example, Minnesota — similar market-sized teams that have had recent success. We need to look at what they’re doing that may be different from us.”
However, for this rebuild to stand a chance, it’s Dick Monfort who must be willing to relinquish control and embrace the unknown. He has to let the changes happen and should be encouraged in all avenues to do so.
That’s what made it confusing when local sportswriter Mark Kiszla of the Denver Gazette appeared to do the exact opposite in his “Kickin’ it with Kiz” column.
“Should the first prerequisite for the next architect of a team in Colorado be a need for Google Maps to find 20th and Blake? I think not,” Kiszla wrote. “Baseball at altitude is a beast. With monumental decisions ahead, the Rockies need to hire somebody who knows the nature of that beast. What worked in Houston or Kansas City won’t necessarily translate to W’s at 5280.”
Kiszla perhaps unintentionally echoes statements made by Dick Monfort in the past.
“(Bringing in someone from the outside) is the other side of it. And I am not saying it’s totally wrong. But when (former GM) Jeff (Bridich) left there were a lot of people from the outside who interviewed or had interest. 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 said prior to the 2024 season.
The problem is that the Rockies have had 33 seasons to figure out winning in Colorado with people who “know the nature of the beast.” They have come up with nothing and are now coming off one of the single worst seasons in the history of the league.
Kiszla also takes issue with the rumored candidates for the president of baseball operations or general manager position, especially in the ways they remind him of former Rockies executives.
“Toronto exec James Click was an art history major at Yale, which reminds me of the know-it-all Ivy Leaguer that was Jeff Bridich,” he opined. “Scott Sharp of Kansas City is basically a lifelong scout, which sounds eerily like the career path of the recently fired Bill Schmidt. And Cleveland assistant GM Matt Forman is a former sportswriter in love with analytics, which can’t be any better than Dan O’Dowd, who came up through the business side of baseball. How do any of these guys qualify as meaningful change from the way Colorado has always conducted business?”
This continues to mirror Dick Monfort’s previous sentiment that bringing in ideas from outside the organization simply won’t work, while also drawing very superficial comparisons to faces of the Rockies’ past.
Bridich was not a bad general manager just because he went to an Ivy League school. He was a bad general manager because he was frequently confrontational with both players and personnel. A comparison to James Click—who has already won a World Series title as a general manager for the Houston Astros—just doesn’t stick. Similarly, Scott Sharp isn’t Bill Schmidt just because they both have scouting backgrounds.
Particularly troubling is his dislike of Guardians assistant general manager Matt Forman—who was reportedly a finalist for the Washington Nationals’ open position—because he is “in love with analytics.” The Rockies’ failure to modernize their organization and invest resources in analytics is a significant reason as to why the team finds themselves in their current situation in the first place.
So what does Kiszla ultimately propose as his solution?
“If the Rockies truly want to take a new approach, they should hire somebody who has lived and died with baseball. The San Francisco Giants recently turned over their baseball operation to former catcher Buster Posey, a seven-time All-Star. The Rangers president of baseball operations is Chris Young, who has been the winning pitcher in a World Series game. Instead of hiring another pencil pusher, the Rockies could do something innovative and give power to a man who has actually dug his cleats in a major league batter’s box and taken a swing at a 95 mph fastball.”
While some former big leaguers players do find themselves in the front office after their careers end, it doesn’t necessarily translate to success, and it’s not particularly common. There are just a handful of current front office executives—presidents of baseball operations or general managers—with big league experience. All of them—including Kiszla’s examples in Posey and Young—spent time around baseball operations after their retirement. The Rockies don’t currently have any former players in their front office who might qualify other than maybe former pitcher Scott Oberg. Oberg has explored several roles since his retirement and is currently one of the team’s pitching coordinators.
“If the Rockies actually have a way of doing business, 323 losses in a three-year stretch suggest their way of building a winning team might be all wrong,” Kiszla said. “That harsh truth seems to have finally penetrated the stubborn skulls of Dick and Charlie Monfort.”
However, What Kiszla is ultimately suggesting is everything that has culminated in seven years of misery for the Rockies: insularity, being overly loyal, and a failure to modernize.
These are all things Dick Monfort and the Colorado Rockies must escape should they want this rebuild to get off the ground.
Matt Holliday Makes His Case for Rockies to Consider Hiring Notable Executive | Sports Illustrated
Former Rockies All-Star Matt Holliday discussed his desire for the Rockies to interview Thad Levine for their open position at the top of baseball operations. It is unknown if the Rockies have or intend to interview Levine, a longtime baseball executive with ties to Colorado early in his career.
Rockies’ Walker Monfort faces ‘monumental decisions’ with front office rebuild | Denver Post ($)
Walker Monfort’s search for a new front office is moving forward at a necessarily break-neck pace. The Rockies need to have their new head of baseball operations installed as soon as possible to capitalize on as much of the off-season as possible. Is he making the right moves when it comes to one of the most important decisions in franchise history?
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