The Rockies are not in a rebuild mode; believe that patience with their current young players will pay off; and remain confident that there is enough talent to compete for a playoff spot in 2020.
Also, don’t expect the team to make any major acquisitions during the offseason.
Those were the messages delivered by the triumvirate of owner Dick Monfort, general manager Jeff Bridich and manager Bud Black Tuesday in a season-ending news conference.
Nevermind that the Rockies tumbled to a 71-91 record this season after making the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history. Bridich views the Rockies in a win-now mode.
“That was our goal this year, coming off of back-to-back playoff appearances, feeling like we could maintain that and hopefully build off that,” he said. “That hasn’t changed at all.”
And while star third baseman Nolan Arenado has said multiple times that he feels as if the Rockies are in a “rebuild,” Bridich doesn’t agree. Nor does Monfort.
“I haven’t seen many rebuilds that start with signing the face of your franchise, your best player, to an (eight-year) $260 million contract,” Monfort said, referring to Arenado’s deal, and adding that right-hander German Marquez also was signed to a five-year, $43 million contract extension.
“When some teams don’t play good over a long period of time, they choose to do a (rebuild), but our goal is to play better and to win,” Monfort continued. “I also hear — what is the phrase? ‘You have a window of time’ — I think we have a huge window of time.
“And I think you start with Nolan, Charlie (Blackmon), control of Trevor (Story) and the young pitchers — Jon Gray and (Kyle) Freeland and Marquez and all of that — I think you have an incredible nucleus of players that you need to build on and try to take this to the next level.”
The Rockies’ payroll this season was a franchise-high $156.6 million, according to Spotrac.com, which ranks 12th in the majors. Monfort made it clear the Rockies don’t plan to significantly increase the payroll next season, noting that a new, more lucrative TV deal with AT&T SportsNet won’t kick in until 2021.
“I’ve always said (that) revenues pass right through to the payroll, and I think we’ve proven that over time,” Monfort said. “It doesn’t start until 2021, so there’s no additional money next year. So I don’t think there’s going to be any huge splashes (in free agency). We’ve pretty much spent what we have through 2020. But it’s going to help the franchise (in the future). It’s going to help the franchise keep players.”
It’s no secret that the Rockies’ pitching was the team’s weakest link in 2019, putting up the worst numbers since before Colorado installed the humidor in 2002. Black and Bridich, however, expressed confidence that the pitching will rebound, although the team will investigate what’s available on the trade- and free-agent markets.
“Our pitchers showed up last year (in the playoffs) against the Brewers, and it’s primarily the same group,” Bridich said. “Some of that group struggled and some got injured. And there was a different complexion to that group as early as May and June, in reality.
“But we are always looking, but it doesn’t mean we can always do things in terms of bringing players in. We have in the past three or four yours — I have. Some of it has worked, some of it hasn’t worked. But we’re always looking. That being said, I think there is still a foundation as long as certain guys bounce back.”
To illustrate Bridich’s point, Black used the example of right-hander Jon Gray, who struggled mightily in 2018 but rebounded this season before a broken foot sidelined him the third week of August. Black believes other pitchers, particularly left-hander Kyle Freeland, can follow Gray’s path. But Black added that Colorado must tweak its teaching approach.
“Are there some pitching principles that we have to get back to? Yes,” Black said. “We sort of strayed from some principles that were important to me, as an ex-pitching guy. It was frustrating. And I take the blame for that. … We have to get back to certain things, that are sound. And we didn’t do that.”
A number of other topics were discussed Tuesday. Following are highlights:
— In regard to possible changes in the coaching staff, Bridich said: “That’s yet to be determined. We’ve got to let the emotion of the season die down a little bit here. Obviously, there wasn’t anything that happened during the season that we felt necessitated change.”
— On improvements that veteran first baseman Daniel Murphy needs to make as a fielder, Black said: “Another offseason with Daniel getting in work at first base and taking the steps he has told me is going to take this winter — to come back with a vengeance and play like’s he’s capable both on defense and on offense — I think we’ll see a different Daniel Murphy next year.”
— On the quality of the farm system, one that many pundits rate in the bottom third of baseball, Bridich said: “The whole concept of farm system rankings, I think you naturally have to take with a grain of salt because things change quickly. …
“We like our farm system. Could it always get better? Sure. Absolutely. (It’s a) credit to our scouts and our development staff that over the last three seasons we’ve graduated a lot of players to the big leagues from that system. And some of these players — most of them — helped us get to the playoffs two years in a row.”