It’s a weird in-between time for the Colorado Rockies and their fans.
Was the Rockies 2025 season a disaster? Absolutely, one that found manager Bud Black replaced on May 11 and general manager and long-time
Rockies employee Bill Schmidt leaving the organization after the season ended.
As recently-promoted executive vice president Walker Monfort noted in the Rockies’ press release, “We are setting our sights on finding the right leader from outside our organization who can bring a fresh perspective to the Rockies and enhance our baseball operations with a new vision, innovation, and a focus on both short and long-term success.”
He added, “This change delivers an opportunity to shape the future of our club and move forward into a new era of Rockies baseball.”
On one hand, this is excellent — and long-overdue — news. That the Rockies have lagged behind on any number of fronts has long been accepted wisdom.
On the other, it places those of us who write about the team in a strange place: We, like the rest of baseball, are waiting to see what happens next. The Rockies have not indicated when they will announce Schmidt’s replacement and the position that person will assume. Will they be a general manager or a president of baseball operations? No one knows. (However, Joelle Milholm shared a list of potential candidates last week.)
That person will have a full agenda when they move into their office at 20th and Blake: How will they change the front office and update the Rockies analytics system? Who will be on the coaching staff? What will they do with the 40-man roster? How active will they be in moving players? And that’s just getting started. The to-do list is lengthy.
But there’s one job that should be given as much priority as any other issue: Beginning the process of rebuilding the Rockies’ relationship with their fans.
Any number of factors suggest that Rockies fans have had enough.
First are the anecdotal comments of the fans themselves.
As Patrick Saunders wrote just a few weeks ago, another 100-loss season left fans exasperated. “‘It’s frustrating, it really is,’ said (Thomas) Marion, who wore a Brenton Doyle Rockies jersey to the game. ‘And it’s tough to justify renewing my season tickets again. I’m still on the fence about it.’”
Then, there are the numbers. Last week, Bob Nightengale reported that the Rockies had their lowest season attendance since 2007. According to ESPN, in 2025, 2,404,613 fans attended games at Coors Field, which was 16th in MLB. In 2024, that number was 2,540,295 (15th).
The new PBO/GM will need to prioritize making things right with a Rockies fan base that has been disillusioned by bad trades (e.g., Nolan Arenado), bad free-agent signings (e.g., Kris Bryant), and historically bad baseball. That person will need to make clear to fans that it’s a new day at Coors Field.
In addition, they will probably need to help a frustrated fan base accept that winning baseball is not imminent. Getting the Rockies out of the hole they have dug for themselves will take time, and the new PBO/GM will be tasked with getting fans to buy in on more losing — but, hopefully, improved — baseball (hopefully, with an eventual Rocktober).
Pretty soon, the Rockies will be calling season ticket holders and asking them to renew their ticket packages. The new PBO/GM will need to convince those fans to make an investment in the Rockies’ future.
The Rockies’ most recent general managers — Jeff Bridich and Bill Schmidt — were not especially effective communicators. That will need to change. The new PBO/GM will need to speak to fans clearly and honestly about what’s happening. They will need to rebuild trust. And they will need to be an effective (and clear) ambassador.
Oddly enough, the new PBO/GM is probably going to be the de facto “face of the franchise” in the near term. A rebuild means moving players that fans are familiar with, and rather than trusting a flame-throwing pitcher or a homer-slugging hitter, the PBO/GM is going to assume that role in the near term — not on the field, obviously, but in re-establishing trust.
This won’t be the job qualification that gets the most attention, but its importance should not be overlooked.
This week on the internet
Ryan McMahon’s days as a Rockie are in the rear view mirror, but can we just take a minute to appreciate the awesomeness of that catch he made in Thursday’s Wild Card Game that sent the New York Yankees to the ALDS?
It was impressive enough that McMahon found himself immortalized by one of the internet’s best sports sites, ArtButMakeItSports. (See the post here.)
On the day the news broke about Bill Schmidt leaving the Rockies, Goodman offered commentary on what it meant and what might be next.
Rockies second base problem could be solved with internal candidates | si.com
Cameron Zunkel makes a case for Rockies prospect Roc Riggio as an option at the keystone.
Baseball fans are thirsting over the sexiest managers in the league | The Blast
Sure, the Rockies weren’t good in 2025, but interim manager Warren Schaeffer did finish fourth on the list. (Look, there is nothing written about the Rockies right now. I had trouble finding three articles.)
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