The Rockies are a sleeping giant, so say the experts. If they could only figure out a way to shake the blasted “sleeping” part.
They say shortstop Trevor Story might want to get used to wearing green. And that pitcher Jon Gray might want to consider doing the same with the color blue.
They think the Rockies’ general manager position at 20th and Blake is a good, but also a somewhat mixed, sort of bag. On the plus side? You get a killer salary (presumably) to live in greater Denver. Less good? Dick Monfort is the one signing the checks.
And yes, the Colorado side of the Nolan Arenado trade looked just as picayune to observers in Bristol, Conn., and Los Angeles as it did to the patrons in McGregor Square.
Get a bunch of national baseball writers in one place, they like to talk. Even if the subject is the Rockies, who haven’t been relevant to anybody outside this time zone in more than three years.
With the MLB All-Star Game in town and the trade deadline looming on July 30, a few of those veteran scribes took some time out to share their thoughts on how the Rockies are perceived outside of our sunny purview.
Spoiler alert: Not kindly.
With thanks to Jeff Passan of ESPN; Bob Nightengale of USA Today; Eno Sarris of The Athletic; Mike Petriello of MLB.com; and Dan Szymborski and Ben Clemens of FanGraphs, here’s what was said when we gave them the floor:
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Itap been an interesting — and transitional — few months in the Colorado front office. What word would you use to best describe the state of the Rockies at present?
Jeff Passan, ESPN: Problematic.
Bob Nightengale, USA Today: In flux. (Laughs)
Eno Sarris, The Athletic: Perhaps the team with the worst present and future situation in baseball. This team isn’t great now, and it’s not clear why it’ll be better later.
Mike Petriello, MLB.com: Confusing.
Dan Szymborski, FanGraphs/ESPN: Directionless.
Ben Clemens, FanGraphs: Rebuilding.
So what word would you use to describe the Rockies’ return from the Nolan Arenado trade to St. Louis?
Passan: Problematic. (Laughs)
Nightengale: Complicated.
Sarris: It wasn’t great. If they were going to pay that deal down so much, the centerpiece probably should’ve been a near-ready bat instead of a near-ready arm.
Petriello: Disappointing.
Syzmborski: Disappointing.
Clemens: Inevitable.
The team Trevor Story will be playing for come Aug. 1 is …
Passan: The Chicago White Sox.
Nightengale: The Cincinnati Reds.
Sarris: The Oakland Athletics.
Petriello: The Oakland Athletics.
Syzmborski: The Colorado Rockies.
Clemens: The Oakland Athletics.
(Note: Out of six respondents, Oakland landed three votes; the White Sox, Reds and Rockies got one each.)
The team Jon Gray will be playing for come Aug. 1 is …
Passan: The Los Angeles Dodgers.
Nightengale: The Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sarris: The Boston Red Sox.
Petriello: The Colorado Rockies.
Syzmborski: The Los Angeles Angels.
Clemens: The St. Louis Cardinals.
(Note: Out of six respondents, The Dodgers landed two votes; the Red Sox, Angels, Cardinals and Rockies got one each.)
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being best, the Rockies’ general manager job is a …
Passan: I love Denver, so 10. But in reality, itap like a 5.
Nightengale: 7.
Sarris: It’s a 1 by difficulty but it’s also a 10 because of that difficulty: If you were to succeed with all the obstacles that this park throws in your way, you’d be a legend.
Petriello: 7.
Syzmborski: 2. Not a 1 because theoretically, it could be a great opportunity if the organization changed how they’re run fundamentally and because it’s a great city to live and work.
Clemens: 10. But that’s because being a baseball general manager is just a 10 job. Normalized for GMs, about a 4. You get to live in Denver, but the ownership situation is not good.
(Note: Factor in the whole living-in-Denver thing, the average score for the Rockies GM job registered a solid 6.2 out of 10. But take the town away, and as a baseball job, the average score dipped to just 3.2.)
Last thing: If you could give a one sentence piece of advice for the Rockies GM, what would it be?
Passan: Be willing to be creative and bold and use what people in the past have seen as disadvantages to your advantage.
Nightengale: I guess it would be, “Patience.”
Sarris: Try something completely different — do an overhaul from the very bottom of the minor leagues that somehow takes advantage of the good parts of Coors Field in order to overcome the difficulties the park provides.
Petriello: Traditional thinking hasn’t yet won a division title in nearly three decades at altitude, so it’s time to not just think outside the box, but throw the box down the mountain.
Syzmborski: Coors Field is a hurdle, not an excuse. The reason the Rockies are failing were predictable and you won’t change the team’s outlook unless you get the authority to modernize the team’s entire organizational philosophy.
Clemens: Come into the job with a clear plan you’re happy with and that you’ve laid out to ownership before taking the job, so that you can proactively work towards accomplishing your goals rather than react.
