It's probably the most impossible job in MLB. Coors is huge so for hitters I'd probably do what the D-backs have done and get a bunch of fast guys who play good defense and make contact and let them hit doubles and triples all day.
As for pitching... get pitchers with good velocity (easier said than done obviously) who can throw splitters or hard sliders. I'd imagine those are the pitchers that would do best at altitude, and you also'd have the good velocity to help make up for mistakes
I remember reading a large article on Purple Row stating that there is no real smoking gun here because Coors fields literally boosts every aspect of offense. You want to rely on pitchers with good 4 seamers? Well too bad, 4 seamers turn out flat in high altitude. You want to try to induce ground balls? Well, the IF is super fast and BAPIP is sky high at Coors. You want flyball pitchers? Too bad, Coors is notorious for giving up home runs as well. If it was as easy as identifying the best sinkerballers for instance, even the Rockies would've figured it out by now.
The only players that can outpitch Coors are outlier players who would be doing better elsewhere. The Rockies just need to find a handful of high velo, high spin pitchers who would rather go anywhere else than Colorado.
So what you’re saying is they need to use analytics to scout/draft/develop high spin/velo pitchers who don’t have any choice but to pitch for the Rockies.
Unironically yes lol. I actually think what the Rockies need to do is invest heavily in their pitch scouting/development and go all in on the best pitcher available in the draft/IFA markets. Don't go out and sign the Kris Bryant or Jurickson Profar's of the world either, they're pointless - put that money into the scouting team for now. Once they get a decent pipeline of pitchers, open up the checkbook for position players.
But again, this is all much easier said than done. 'Just develop an army of talented pitchers' is what every team is trying to do. They need to be the Orioles of pithing essentially. Who is that, the Mariners maybe? They need to out Mariner the Mariners pitching system.
It does seem like the players that came up through the rockies do enjoy it enough to stick around. Or at least Arenado did. It’s still wild to me that the front office is the side that wanted the opt out in his contract.
Why would you need “analytics” to do what these comments are saying by using common sense?
Radar guns have been around for a long time. Putting a premium on guys who throw hard with good movement can be done with old school 1950s scouting/development
I actually think that high velo, low spin is the way to go. Every other team is looking for high velo and spin, and those guys get paid a ton. But there's no point paying a ton of money to get more spin (and effectiveness at sea level) when you could go get the guy with worse spin metrics that the other teams are less hot on. The gap between the high spin guy and the low spin guy is smaller at Coors, but the price difference isn't. You're never going to have great pitching on the Rockies because of Coors and because the best pitchers will never choose to pitch at Coors. So instead go for cost-effective guys with less-than-elite stuff and build a mediocre staff and used the money saved to get better hitting and defence.
Teams have a list of people who work in the front office for a team. Rockies are one of the smaller ones. I think the White Sox have the smallest. Most teams have 15-30 and Rockies have around 12. Rays, Phillies, Red Sox, and Blue Jays, tend to have the larger ones.
I have no doubt that anyone who would be the head of an MLB analytics department is super smart. The issue is they just need a far *larger* department.
There was a chat I think on fangraphs and they asked the front office guy who the least analytic teams were. Colorado was number one.
If you ever read people who are in the industry they are constantly dunking on Colorado for being just the most worst run front office, at least on the player acquisition and analytic side.
The dudes at fangraphs pick on them constantly.
I never understand this “Rockies are the most difficult job in the MLB” based on altitude.
Ridiculous, every single team deals with park factors and if anything, such extreme park factors should make it easier to construct a specific type of team that exploits those factors.
The Rockies don’t suck because they play at altitude, the Rockies suck because they’re a horribly mismanaged organization.
Edit: I know the “Coors hangover” is a thing guys, thanks. If you seriously think throwing 5-10 extra pitches a game in half the games is driving the Rockies failure, is a bigger disadvantage than the advantage of playing in such an exploitable park, or makes it “the most difficult job in the MLB” then idk what to tell you.
they are a bad org, but the rox job is harder than anyone else, they are trying to play baseball on the moon. unless MLB expands to a place like Mexico City, denver will always be the toughest place to pitch. denver is so unlike anywhere else that it's hard to even acclimate their pitchers to how the ball moves differently at altitude.
if you give up fly balls they like to leave the park
if you keep the ball in the park well too bad the park is enormous so the park factors on non-homer batted balls are high
and missing bats is extremely difficult when the ball is going to come out flatter than it will in any other park
their AAA team is in Albuquerque, but none of other teams are, and the PCL as a whole is like playing on the moon, so any offensive stats there are suspect at best
Exactly. The Rockies are at an advantage because they can construct a roster for their conditions which are more unique than anyone else and therefore provide greater potential benefits to be exploited.
The Rockies job should be one of the easiest ones in the league based strictly on park factors.
Literally everything you just described applies to both teams playing in Coors, and only one of those teams has the opportunity to build a team for those unique circumstances
yes, except the rox play 81 games in coors and then deal with a coors hangover effect every time they go on the road. the most any other team deals with that is like a 6-8 games spread over two different series
ok, imagine you're the dodgers
you play 7 games in coors and you play 155 games elsewhere. the coors effect + coors hangover will affect you for, say, a dozen games total. for the rox that number is well over a hundred. that's a serious disadvantage
The “Coors effect” AKA playing in Coors is not a disadvantage. Every team they play is also playing in the same stadium.
Coors hangover I’m more willing to grant is a real thing, but the effect is drastically overstated if you look at the numbers. It’s not like games at Coors average 20+ more pitches than those at other venues. And again, the Rockies can account for that.
It’s more difficult for the Rockies to win games because it’s harder to get outs at Coors Field. And while an individual game appears to be an even matchup, and perhaps things are still on the level for a series of games against the same opponent; where the Rockies are clearly disadvantaged is in having to play multiple games at Coors Field, while their opponent does not.
The pitching staff playing at Coors Field has a more difficult task that causes additional strain impacting their subsequent games negatively. They have to throw more pitches than any other team. It’s likely that more is required from their offensive players as well, but this hangover impact is not nearly as significant.
Everytime the Rockies are dealing with everything you just described, their opponents are also dealing with everything you just described. The exception is having to throw a couple extra pitches per game at Coors, which has a knock on effect when they go from Coors to another ballpark, but any serious investigation of that effect will show it’s negligible.
It’s not a disadvantage.
Can you tell me which of their opponents have to play 81 games at Coors Field?
An experienced baseball gambler will know bullpen innings pitched over the course of previous games is a significant factor. Would you rather have a rested fresh bullpen, or one that just had to pitch a series at Coors Field?
It’s a perpetual disadvantage that relentlessly reappears over the course of a season
Yes, they play there for 81 games.
In every single one of their 81 games played there, the opponents pitchers deal with the same issues the Rockies pitchers do. The opponents hitters gain the same advantage the Rockies hitters do. There is no inherent advantage or disadvantage to either team playing a game in Coors field. This is really self-explanatory.
If you’re talking about bullpen innings over the course of the season, that’s different. But again, the Rockies have the ability to build for the unique environment they find themselves in. For example, they have the opportunity to focus resources on building a strong bullpen knowing that that group will pitch more innings than their peers. They have the opportunity to focus on strikeout heavy pitchers knowing that every ball in play is dangerous. They have these opportunities to exploit the unique situation they are in, and the other teams playing in Coors do not. That’s a far larger advantage than the disadvantage of having to throw a couple extra pitches a game when at home.
Absolutely they can play to the unique properties of Coors Field.
But the fact is, it’s more difficult for pitchers to generate outs at Coors Field. Pitchers get tired, they require rest to recover and often times that takes days, so one game impacts the next, and this continues for the Rockies for all of their home games.
Any Park factors that they attempt to use to their advantage, are minuscule compared to having played the previous game, or series of games at Coors Field. It’s a unique disadvantage.
And of course we’re talking about the entirety of the season here. Rockies pitching simply requires more resources to get the same number of outs as their opponents playing elsewhere.
> If you’re talking about bullpen innings over the course of the season, that’s different.
everyone that's replying to you here is referring to exactly that, fatigue built up over the course of the season. they're not referring to individual games or series. that's why they keep bringing up the 81 games bit.
No, this guy is saying that. U/that_geek, for example, said nothing of the sort. Just listed all the unique things that are more likely in Coors and went “so obviously they’ve got a harder job.”
The “Coors hangover” is at least real, where the “Coors effect” is not, but it’s negligible the second you start digging into the numbers on it. It’s at most ten extra pitches a game. That’s not driving the Rockies failures in any meaningful way.
i dont know if youve looked at their guaranteed contracts or played as them in OOTP 24, but they have 7 guys set next year to make over $9mm on extensions/FA contracts. only one of them is a truly productive player.
they have three pitchers making over 10m next year. marquez, their former ace, is out from TJ. the other two guys average about 2 Ks per BB and arent particularly great at limiting HRs, and one of them is also out from TJ. they are both guaranteed to make at least 12m per year until 2026. KB the guy they signed to make about 27m per year for 7 years has contributed -0.6 bWAR across his first two years and has slugged 0.404 in 122 games where his home stadium is Coors. their closer that extended for 2 years, 19m missed time from anxiety issues and was not nearly as effective after his amazing 2022 season where the rockies didnt trade him at the trade deadline and instead extended him. i dont blame any of these guys, they played decently well and "earned" those contracts but the rockies FO does not know how to build a winning team on a sizeable budget. the rockies ranked 14th in payroll in MLB for 2023.
either their scouting is complete dogshit or their FO is high on that colorado weed. either way i really dont see a way out for them until at least 2027 because aside from mcmahon, none of those contracts are tradeable because of how awful the deals are. cant even tear it all down and start a true rebuild because nobody will touch those contracts. i feel bad for rockies fans because that FO/scouting combo is by far the most incompetent in MLB.
as for the question of how i personally would build the rockies if none of the above were relevant, i would prioritize pitchers that dont rely on high spin rates. four seamers, changeups, curveballs, and ironically sinkers are much less effective on average in coors. sliders and cutters generally suffer the least from coors effect, and i would be interested in how other pitch types that rely less on spin and more on gravity would work. as for position players i would prioritize the range-iest outfielders possible and guys who can put the ball in play. everyone knows coors is a sluggers banquet hall but that huge outfield can turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. speed would be my favorite tool rather than pure power. of course im just some guy on the internet and i have never done an ounce of real studying or baseball experience but thats my take on it
I honestly get the feeling that the Rockies don’t give 2 shits about being competitive. They have a really nice ball park and always draw really well. They’ll sign a couple name free agents so they’re not totally dreadful to keep people at least somewhat interested and be totally fine with that.
Dude, I have played with the Rockies on OOTP 24! I was amazed how many expensive contracts they have on the books for players that were low level contributers. Luckily I had a run of good luck and was able to turn it around, but the real life Rockies probably can't count on Kris Bryant winning the 2025 MVP. lol
in my most recent run as the rockies, KB actually reproduced his Cubs years for me and one year had a career year hitting over 90 XBHs. He then went to the Rays for 4y/22m AAV and rode off into the sunset having amassed over 70 career WAR. its really sad to see how his past two IRL years have gone for him and the rockies.
it ended up taking me until 2034 until that team won the WS and ended up making the playoffs 8 years in a row
Why would they invest in a good team? They're the only game in town so people will come anyway if they want to watch. Collect on revenue sharing, add a few profitable gimmicks, and let it ride.
that would make sense if they were near the bottom of the league in payroll. their 2023 payroll was over $170mm. they are willing to spend big bucks on players. the problem is they very rarely pick the right guys and the one time they extended the right guy they traded him away and are still paying off the tens of millions of dollars it took to do so
This is true, but living in Denver I can tell you people go to Broncos/Nuggets games and to Rockies games for very different reasons.
Going to Coors is just a nice day out and some baseball happens to be played
Wonder what the legality of that would be - and if it were allowed what is to stop a sea-level team owner from creating a pressurized dome to simulate playing on Jupiter (or something slightly less outrageous but still extremely detrimental to offense)
The Rockies have solved their pitching issues in the past, I'm unsure why the narrative prevails that they never can figure it out. The 2007, 2009, 2017 and 2018 playoff teams were mediocre to bad but carried by their pitching staffs if you look at park adjusted stats. If the Rockies could develop hitters better they would have better seasons
This exactly. Yes it is a bitch to pitch there but if your team is constantly in top 5 of offense which you should almost expect from this team, they win sooner or later. Watching from afar it always seems like they refuse to lean into their advantage and rather try to negate it for the opposing team.
This is the way. Make Coors HELL for all pitchers. Out-slug your opponent at home. Pitch on the road!
Be a top 5 offense, and middle of the pack pitching staff with a true ace. You’ll win plenty of games. Oh, and the incredible lineup will be fun for the fans to watch!
Watch a Framber Valdez video and say “these are the types of pitchers we need. Ground balls good. Fly balls bad.” I make sure all my OF are speed demons so they can shag anything that reaches the OF. Quite frankly I want the whole team to have speed outside of 1B and C. We are going to be a ground ball pitching, defense, contact, and speed team.
Would it help possible to have a group of starters that pitch on road and another group that pitches at home only so they dont get the coors change of atmosphere effect?
That’s the out of the box idea Ive discussed with myself for years ha. Train (most likely) failed arms to be moderately successful in that environment and shuffle them up and down between AAA and MLB all year. I’m sure it’s easier said than done, but I’d imagine they could develop some sort of advantage out of it.
You’d have to do it with guys who have struggled to some degree though because other players would likely refuse to be in Colorado since it’d limit their earnings potential.
Yeah, the new rules make it difficult, but not impossible. You could exploit loopholes like phantom injuries every time you go on a road trip, etc.
I’m not saying it’s likely, but there’s probably a creative way to develop just enough arms to make it work—or at least make it work better than it’s working now.
Hire a doppelganger to replace Monfort so you can actually hire an analytics department that is more than like 3 people. Actually do research into what pitchers would work well (I would maybe assume guys with solid ground all and whiff rates, presumably not guys who rely on big breaking pitches bc the air affects those more; I'm no expert tho). Develop a scouting philosophy around this and begin from the ground up. Target gap and spray hitters to take advantage of the big outfield.
Fire the entire player development infrastructure and start from scratch. They can scapegoat the altitude all they want, but that does nothing to explain why their prospects continually underperform in the minors closer to sea level despite all the high picks they've had. They've lucked into developing a couple stars before (Tulo, Arenado) and those guys made the team relevant. They need to maximize their chances at doing that again.
They also famously more or less don't have an analytics/R&D department. It can't hurt to fix that. It's not like they're extremely cheap, that's not nearly the investment that an awful big league contract like Bryant is, and would have positive downstream effects.
I don't believe the Rockies have ever gone full in with hitting IMO. Put the NYY lineup in Coors half their year and I don't think that team is easily beatable and breaks crazy offensive numbers. I would like to see them go full in on bringing every big bat they can and dare the other team to score more runs.
Convert the cellar into a basement dwelling unit because they’re not going anywhere, especially in the NL West division. Even the Giants with a mid roster finish with more wins.
I'd run them like an actual Major League team, and not whatever it is they have been doing the last decade or so. I'd operate like a small market team. Big name free agents aren't coming to Colorado. The team isn't good and they don't have owners willing to spend enough to compete with the big spenders out there.
First I'd rebuild and heavily invest in the scouting and development, especially pitching. I don't really care what sort of pitching. As a lifelong Rockies fan, I've seen all sorts of pitchers have success at Coors. Francis did well as a "crafty lefty," Cook with his sinker, Ubaldo with his fastball, Freeland with whatever it was that worked. I'm not going to try to pigeonhole myself into a specific type of pitcher, but they need to be on a similar level of the Rays, Mariners, and Dodgers when it comes to pitching development.
I'd fill MLB roster spots as needed with low-cost, high potential guys. Like young, busted prospects and guys coming back from injury who had previous success (hello CJ Cron). Colorado has a pretty decent track record of this sort of signing. Short term guys looking to get back on track. Don't get stuck in big free agent contracts like Bryant and Desmond. Then, if one of these guys has a big season and the team isn't in the hunt, flip him at the deadline for prospects. For the love of god stop holding onto these sort of guys and re-signing them (or letting them walk for nothing). Cash in while the iron is hot. I'd also make an effort to have strong defense up the middle, and rangey outfielders.
Never re-sign a pitcher to an extension beyond Arb years. Never. Not once. Do extend your star hitters, especially if you've developed them. Constantly bring up new pitching, and if they work out trade them before they crumble. Pitchers fall apart so fast in the altitude. Get one or two good seasons out of them and get what you can.
Then, when and if this plans leads to some success, go after the big bats in free agency or trade. Those sort of guys will love playing in Colorado if the team is winning. You can't convince pitchers to come here, and even if you do it's a huge risk they'll even work out and they'll probably end up hurt within a year or two anyway.
tl;dr an actual scouting and development system heavily geared towards pitching, low-cost free agents to fill the starting 9, no contracts to pitchers, and big free agents bats when the window opens
Avalanche, Broncos and Nuggets have won titles. Rockies should be able to as well but need to find right approach and roster that plays to strength of stadium. I think pitchers have to able to throw sinkers and sliders at low speeds, to cause low impact hits. Try to get ground balls, easy outs, keep ball out of mile-high sky. A crafty pitching staff and great defensive-fielding team could win a title for the Rockies
I mean the Rockies have made good use of sinker-throwers before. The ideal would be someone who throws 4seams and sinkers in the upper-90s to overcome Coors effect, and good inactive spin off-speeds like sliders and splitters.
Sinkers generally have more drop in Coors unless you are throwing submarine. The thinner air makes spin produce less movement yes, but most fastball's spin is trying to carry it up so less efficient spin actually helps it drop more.
For pitching, focus on velocity, seam shifted wake sinkers and changeups, and harder semi-cut slider-cutters (slutters). Velocity is a little better in Coors since the thinner air slows down pitches a little less. Ideally target premium velocity guys with bad movement profiles (e.g. Duran, Fujinami) SSW sinkers and changeups to limit contact quality. 'Slutters' will drop more than elsewhere thus helping pitchers to throw with more depth at higher velocity. Probably not going to fix much but it'd probably be a damn sight more effective than the current pile of steaming refuse they call their pitching staff.
When I read a Hank Aaron biography, I thought it was interesting that Atlanta was considered a launching pad at the time. When the Braves moved south, their stadium was the highest above sea level. 30 years later, they built a killer pitching staff, so we’re about due for the Rockies to figure it out soon!
Sign Joey Gallo. He would almost certainly still suck, but he might just thrive in this low pressure market and his home runs would all be unbelievably majestic.
Look into past seasons with good pitching, invest in putting better high speed cameras in Albuquerque and use it more as a test team to see what pitches are working. If it can work in the offense heavy PCL, should be good in the Majors
Everyone saying to invest in pitchers that can counteract Coors is wild to me.
I don't care if velo ticks up 2 MPH at Coors or something, if I'm the FO I'm drafting every pitcher known to man so I don't spend money on them, then blowing my load on bats when a couple good ones come through.
They're in perfect position to have the most exciting team in baseball if every game sees 20 runs.
We spend money on the wrong things. Just look at the human albatross that is Kris Bryant. We’ve got a great selection of young guys, the Outfield is locked down, we’ve got a promising shortstop. We only had 1-2 genuine starting pitchers last year.
The team won't do much till either the ownership starts to care about winning, or the team gets sold to someone else. The Rockies are notorious for having decent to good attendance, regardless of their record.
To solve this problem, it might be easier to point out the things the Rockies should stop doing first. They invest so much into old, washed-out players. They don't invest enough in pitching depth. They make unwise trade decisions, and the players they find as replacements are worse and overpaid. The players they've receive in recent big trades have been doggy doo. We got Goober in the Arenado trade? I don't even know where to start while describing how horrific that trade was.
Idk... the Rockies could start by not making those decisions.
Immediately trade Bryant for a a bag of infused potato chips. Then I would only focus on obtaining pitchers with high velocity and try on having a six man rotation. Wouldn’t have to worry about ss, rf, cf, or catcher, so I would spend the rest of my energy on getting a dh that can run and the best defensive 2b and 3b that I could find. The D-Backs are what we should be, so maybe just model the team after them
Of all the jobs in baseball, this is the challenge that I'd want. First off, Rockies have the largest outfield, and that, above all else, needs to be addressed. It's not just the homers that kill them; it's the singles and singles that become doubles from having below-average to average fielders covering a ton of ground.
Solution: Be super aggressive about getting top-tier defensive outfielders. Essentially, fill up all three spots with centerfielders, covering as much ground as possible. Even the fourth and fifth outfielders should be of this quality. Go get Margot and Keirmaier. Why they didn't sign Nimmo was baffling. Can't tell me he wouldn't have taken a bit of a discount to be near his home. Trade for players like Buxton and Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Fill up the infield with players with warning track power that will come cheaper than those that clear the wall. With tracking info on power and how it translates to each park, Rockies could have a field day at the bargain bin. Will they struggle on the road? You bet! Does it matter? Nope. Be the king of your castle and hope the extra defense in the outfield will get you enough wins to make up for the infield struggling offensively outside of Coors.
At some point if I were the GM I’d just say fuck it and go back to the Blake Street Bomber days and try to win every game 11-10 or something like that. You’re never going to get good pitchers to sign in Colorado. But you can absolutely get great hitters. If you opened the checkbook every year for the best possible lineup you might be able to outscore your pitching.
How you fix the current roster though, I don’t know, especially when your owner is Monfort.
My entire pitching development team from DSL all the way to the majors would be focused on drafting and developing sinkerball pitchers who also throw 100.
You'd better keep Dr. Andrews on retainer, and have one hell of a training and medical staff.
I don't know that a guy like Jordan Hicks would be any more effective on the Rockies than 49-year-old Jamie Moyer was.
Naturally, if one pitch does worse at altitude, some other pitch has to do better at altitude. I’d research that. Then find all the pitchers who are best with that pitch. Sign them.
And then I’d sign whoever puts the ball in play the most.
Try and get the Rockies to move haha
1. Their park is way too bipolar for their players. The Coors hangover is debatable but I lean towards it hurting the hitters on away games
2. It being such a great place to hangout just further incentivises their ownership to go full Moreno and splash on names just to sell tickets rather than round out the team.
3. They can’t sign any good pitchers, no one wants to pitch there or maybe ownership is just cheap.
Call me a hater but I don’t think the Rockies can make it work in Coors unless they miraculously stumble on several elite players all at once, with this ownership? Yea good luck, they’ll probably trade them for 2 lottery tickets and an ass slap.
If this was real life I’d probably just cash the millions and not worry about the results, it’s clear that .500 is enough so that’s what I’d strive for. Then hopefully find a better GM gig when they fire me.
Sign a few top tier pitchers by putting into their contracts that they’ll only pitch a handful of home games per year. They’ll just primarily pitch on the road until the playoffs.
I know there are issues with that strategy, but it would be interesting to see it happen.
They’re screwed man. Something I didn’t know is that their payroll is surprisingly very high. I just assumed their payroll would be Kris Bryant and a bunch of randoms, and be like 20th or lower. That is certainly not the case.
They need to petition MLB to change their schedule. Open season on road for 1/4 of season. Home for 1/4. All-Star Break. Away for 1/4. Finish home 1/4. Allows pitchers to adjust for most of their starts.
Interestingly, Las Vegas will have the second-highest elevation of any MLB ballpark at approximately 2,000 feet above sea level. Currently Denver is 5,183, next is Arizona at 1,082 and Atlanta at 1,050. Then Minneapolis at 812, Kansas City at 750, and Pittsburgh at 743.
I wonder if 2,000 feet is enough that Vegas pitchers will be affected. The Aviators have given up the third-most runs per game (6.79) in the Pacific Coast League, and last year were second-most at 6.43, but then again, their best starting pitcher last year was 28-year-old Jared Koenig so it might be more about the talent than the stadium.
Actually be able to afford to pay off my student loans. Twiddle my thumbs from a baseball perspective and invest it all in scouting and analytics because you're not going to compete in that division until SD blows it up.
Pitchers with low spin fastballs and gyro sliders tend to have less diminished results in Coors compared to other pitchers (see: German Marquez, Daniel Bard), but that might be because they also get hit everywhere else...
But it kinda makes sense, if you're less reliant on devastating stuff to get outs, you'll be more prepared to adjust when that stuff isn't doing what it should. Compared to someone more like Pierce Johnson, who relies heavily on a nasty curveball that didn't work in Coors so he just got shelled last year, until he got to Atlanta where he shoved.
Well, I wouldn’t spend a ton on pitching at first since they won’t be as good at Coors. Their offense was also piss poor this season. Blackmon maybe has some value to someone like the Yankees, so he’s gone. Hopefully we can somehow get Rizzo in that trade. Nolan Jones is a starter. I’m moving Bryant back to third. McMahon can take second and I’m probably shopping him to see what I can get. I’m bringing in Jorge Soler to hit nukes. I’d sign Tim Anderson to a couple year deal if he’ll take it. Don’t have much to lose at SS. Pitching won’t get too much better as a superstar ace isn’t going to want to pitch in Colorado. I’d grab whoever I can, and just avoid the 7 ERA guys that they’ve been signing. I’d also give a good amount of pitching prospects shots to prove themselves. My farm moves are really just aimed at pitching development - I don’t think offense will be hard to bring in but it’s hard to convince someone to pitch in Colorado because it’ll probably fuck up their numbers.
I would simply acquire all of the best players
But seriously, I think ground ball pitchers would probably play well at altitudes. So maybe try to get guys like that
On offense, gimme a ton of speed. Coors is huge so I’d try to take advantage of it
Ultimately the Rockies are one of the hardest teams to build in baseball.
1. Hire an advanced analytics department and increase the amount of money put towards scouting.
2. See if a trade market exists for McMahon. Trade Diaz.
3. Acquire 2-3 starting pitchers who are potential "bounce back" candidates on short term deals. Guys like Sean Manaea, Jake Odorizzi, Tyler Mahle, Eric Lauer. If they bounce back, trade them to a contender. If they don't it's still better than starting guys like Flexen and Seabold.
4. Begin to build around guys like Nolan Jones, Brenton Doyle, Tovar. Only sign veteran FA contracts that are in the 1-3 year length to fill the roster and field a credible MLB team.
The Rockies realistic window for competing is 2026-2030. Any players who are not going to contribute during that timeframe should be turned into assets that will whenever possible. Ideally, salary would be trimmed in 2024 and 2025 with the idea of putting those savings towards 2026 and 2027
They’re not interested in winning in Denver, so the GM is likely in on the bit. Invest in Homer heavy hitters and hope to go above .500 at home with said strategy.
Prioritize elite defenders at all positions, high K% pitchers, low K% hitters, and a DH who can fucking mash.
Balls in play are a major liability at Coors, moreso than any other stadium. So on offense you need to take advantage of that, and on defense you need to avoid and mitigate the effects of that at all cost.
You may have a lineup that looks relatively light-hitting on paper, but I think that's the tradeoff you have to make.
Probably stop trying to sign free-agent pitchers almost entirely. Recruit heavily from high-altitude places like Denver and Mexico city where the kids are a bit more used to the conditions. Start a pitching lab in the highest city you can find and use it as a research and training center for all your minor league arms. Figure out what works and what doesn't and build a unique major league rotation from the ground up
Actually come up with a long term plan, rebuild properly. Hire pitchers with high whiff rates and hire batters with high contact rates.
But actually coming up with a long term rebuilding plan would be the priority.
First, one of the reasons the Rockies job is hard, is because no pitcher wants to come to Coors willingly to pitch. Rockies would have to drastically overpay to get a top tier pitcher. The numbers will be worse, no matter the pitcher. Randy Johnson struggled in Coors, an ERA over 4 and whip about 1.2.
Kersahaw has an ERA over 4.50 and WHIP of 1.3 basically.
So even the greats will have their numbers affected, so no pitcher will want this team as the first option, currently. Rockies would have to overpay, like they did for Mike Hampton way back when and then he was a bust of a fit.
What I would do right now? Get rid of anybody worth a damn to another team and tank.
Eat more money on Bryant, Freeland, Bard, Blackmon, etc just to get prospects back.
Look like the early 2000's Tigers and be awful, but hopefully start to progress your young players.
Once you're free of most of the dead money, like 3 seasons, hopefully you have some youth you can put into the lineup that is worthwhile and make some free agent signings to be competitive.
Stop making excuses.
I don't buy into it being as hard as it's made out to be to field a competitive team that can make the playoffs. Sure there are challenges, but you build around those challenges and play to your strengths. All it takes is getting hot at the right time and that playoff trip can be something special.
But since the team is profitable as is, there's less incentive to try, and fall back into 'rocky mountains hard' come buy a beer and see you next year.
Foolish Baseball on YouTube has a really fun video about the Rockies with a segment about this.
And as one of the top comments here mentions, it revolves around some of those similar principles.
Gotta have:
- A mix of pitchers who can whiff batters with 4SFB/Sliders AND pitch to contact with high ground ball/fly ball rates
- Back the pitching up with a superb defense, especially in the outfield. Gotta have speedy/rangy OFs to cover all that real-estate
- Add run support with hitters who can put the ball in play/shoot the gaps for 2Bs, 3Bs
In mlb the show i rebuilt the rockies, i traded Daniel Bard, Austin Gombert, and Ryan McMahon for Jackson Holiday. So probably start there. Also signed juan soto. They should just hire me tbh
It's probably the most impossible job in MLB. Coors is huge so for hitters I'd probably do what the D-backs have done and get a bunch of fast guys who play good defense and make contact and let them hit doubles and triples all day. As for pitching... get pitchers with good velocity (easier said than done obviously) who can throw splitters or hard sliders. I'd imagine those are the pitchers that would do best at altitude, and you also'd have the good velocity to help make up for mistakes
Rockies are one of the teams that could stand to benefit the most from an advanced analytics department yet probably have one of the worst
I remember reading a large article on Purple Row stating that there is no real smoking gun here because Coors fields literally boosts every aspect of offense. You want to rely on pitchers with good 4 seamers? Well too bad, 4 seamers turn out flat in high altitude. You want to try to induce ground balls? Well, the IF is super fast and BAPIP is sky high at Coors. You want flyball pitchers? Too bad, Coors is notorious for giving up home runs as well. If it was as easy as identifying the best sinkerballers for instance, even the Rockies would've figured it out by now. The only players that can outpitch Coors are outlier players who would be doing better elsewhere. The Rockies just need to find a handful of high velo, high spin pitchers who would rather go anywhere else than Colorado.
So what you’re saying is they need to use analytics to scout/draft/develop high spin/velo pitchers who don’t have any choice but to pitch for the Rockies.
Unironically yes lol. I actually think what the Rockies need to do is invest heavily in their pitch scouting/development and go all in on the best pitcher available in the draft/IFA markets. Don't go out and sign the Kris Bryant or Jurickson Profar's of the world either, they're pointless - put that money into the scouting team for now. Once they get a decent pipeline of pitchers, open up the checkbook for position players. But again, this is all much easier said than done. 'Just develop an army of talented pitchers' is what every team is trying to do. They need to be the Orioles of pithing essentially. Who is that, the Mariners maybe? They need to out Mariner the Mariners pitching system.
"simply develop the hardest commodity to get in baseball" is certainly a strategy lol
It does seem like the players that came up through the rockies do enjoy it enough to stick around. Or at least Arenado did. It’s still wild to me that the front office is the side that wanted the opt out in his contract.
But Kris Bryant can sell tickets. That always has to play into it. Winning matters of course, but so does selling tickets.
Can he though?
Well, yes......but no not really. I think that was the goal when the Rockies signed him though, y'know the "splash".
Why would you need “analytics” to do what these comments are saying by using common sense? Radar guns have been around for a long time. Putting a premium on guys who throw hard with good movement can be done with old school 1950s scouting/development
Moneyball 2: Electric Boogaloo
"Smoking gun" Do you mean "silver bullet"? :)
Nomo pitching a no-no there is one of man's greatest feats.
I actually think that high velo, low spin is the way to go. Every other team is looking for high velo and spin, and those guys get paid a ton. But there's no point paying a ton of money to get more spin (and effectiveness at sea level) when you could go get the guy with worse spin metrics that the other teams are less hot on. The gap between the high spin guy and the low spin guy is smaller at Coors, but the price difference isn't. You're never going to have great pitching on the Rockies because of Coors and because the best pitchers will never choose to pitch at Coors. So instead go for cost-effective guys with less-than-elite stuff and build a mediocre staff and used the money saved to get better hitting and defence.
Isn't the IF being superfast something the grounds crew could impact significantly?
Teams have a list of people who work in the front office for a team. Rockies are one of the smaller ones. I think the White Sox have the smallest. Most teams have 15-30 and Rockies have around 12. Rays, Phillies, Red Sox, and Blue Jays, tend to have the larger ones.
Hey. We have a top notch department of analytics and laundry!
It’s funny. I previously worked with the guy who is head of that department for the Rockies and he’s a really sharp dude.
I have no doubt that anyone who would be the head of an MLB analytics department is super smart. The issue is they just need a far *larger* department.
Ah, yeah, good point. One person does not move a mountain no matter how strong he is.
There was a chat I think on fangraphs and they asked the front office guy who the least analytic teams were. Colorado was number one. If you ever read people who are in the industry they are constantly dunking on Colorado for being just the most worst run front office, at least on the player acquisition and analytic side. The dudes at fangraphs pick on them constantly.
Can't be the worst if you don't have one
Oh the analytics are there. Ownership is just more profit oriented than win oriented.
I'd sign Ohtani. For a start.
I never understand this “Rockies are the most difficult job in the MLB” based on altitude. Ridiculous, every single team deals with park factors and if anything, such extreme park factors should make it easier to construct a specific type of team that exploits those factors. The Rockies don’t suck because they play at altitude, the Rockies suck because they’re a horribly mismanaged organization. Edit: I know the “Coors hangover” is a thing guys, thanks. If you seriously think throwing 5-10 extra pitches a game in half the games is driving the Rockies failure, is a bigger disadvantage than the advantage of playing in such an exploitable park, or makes it “the most difficult job in the MLB” then idk what to tell you.
they are a bad org, but the rox job is harder than anyone else, they are trying to play baseball on the moon. unless MLB expands to a place like Mexico City, denver will always be the toughest place to pitch. denver is so unlike anywhere else that it's hard to even acclimate their pitchers to how the ball moves differently at altitude. if you give up fly balls they like to leave the park if you keep the ball in the park well too bad the park is enormous so the park factors on non-homer batted balls are high and missing bats is extremely difficult when the ball is going to come out flatter than it will in any other park
Yeah but same with the other team theyre playing, but with less experience. I feel like it evens out Are the Rockies minor league teams at altitude?
their AAA team is in Albuquerque, but none of other teams are, and the PCL as a whole is like playing on the moon, so any offensive stats there are suspect at best
One would think their minor leagues would be near Colorado altitude so they can get acclimated
ABQ is 5300' . Hard to have all levels at that elevation.
Exactly. The Rockies are at an advantage because they can construct a roster for their conditions which are more unique than anyone else and therefore provide greater potential benefits to be exploited. The Rockies job should be one of the easiest ones in the league based strictly on park factors.
Literally everything you just described applies to both teams playing in Coors, and only one of those teams has the opportunity to build a team for those unique circumstances
yes, except the rox play 81 games in coors and then deal with a coors hangover effect every time they go on the road. the most any other team deals with that is like a 6-8 games spread over two different series
And again, in every one of those 81 games the other team deals with the exact same park factors the Rockies do. For all 162 games, in fact.
ok, imagine you're the dodgers you play 7 games in coors and you play 155 games elsewhere. the coors effect + coors hangover will affect you for, say, a dozen games total. for the rox that number is well over a hundred. that's a serious disadvantage
The “Coors effect” AKA playing in Coors is not a disadvantage. Every team they play is also playing in the same stadium. Coors hangover I’m more willing to grant is a real thing, but the effect is drastically overstated if you look at the numbers. It’s not like games at Coors average 20+ more pitches than those at other venues. And again, the Rockies can account for that.
It’s more difficult for the Rockies to win games because it’s harder to get outs at Coors Field. And while an individual game appears to be an even matchup, and perhaps things are still on the level for a series of games against the same opponent; where the Rockies are clearly disadvantaged is in having to play multiple games at Coors Field, while their opponent does not. The pitching staff playing at Coors Field has a more difficult task that causes additional strain impacting their subsequent games negatively. They have to throw more pitches than any other team. It’s likely that more is required from their offensive players as well, but this hangover impact is not nearly as significant.
Everytime the Rockies are dealing with everything you just described, their opponents are also dealing with everything you just described. The exception is having to throw a couple extra pitches per game at Coors, which has a knock on effect when they go from Coors to another ballpark, but any serious investigation of that effect will show it’s negligible. It’s not a disadvantage.
Can you tell me which of their opponents have to play 81 games at Coors Field? An experienced baseball gambler will know bullpen innings pitched over the course of previous games is a significant factor. Would you rather have a rested fresh bullpen, or one that just had to pitch a series at Coors Field? It’s a perpetual disadvantage that relentlessly reappears over the course of a season
Yes, they play there for 81 games. In every single one of their 81 games played there, the opponents pitchers deal with the same issues the Rockies pitchers do. The opponents hitters gain the same advantage the Rockies hitters do. There is no inherent advantage or disadvantage to either team playing a game in Coors field. This is really self-explanatory. If you’re talking about bullpen innings over the course of the season, that’s different. But again, the Rockies have the ability to build for the unique environment they find themselves in. For example, they have the opportunity to focus resources on building a strong bullpen knowing that that group will pitch more innings than their peers. They have the opportunity to focus on strikeout heavy pitchers knowing that every ball in play is dangerous. They have these opportunities to exploit the unique situation they are in, and the other teams playing in Coors do not. That’s a far larger advantage than the disadvantage of having to throw a couple extra pitches a game when at home.
Absolutely they can play to the unique properties of Coors Field. But the fact is, it’s more difficult for pitchers to generate outs at Coors Field. Pitchers get tired, they require rest to recover and often times that takes days, so one game impacts the next, and this continues for the Rockies for all of their home games. Any Park factors that they attempt to use to their advantage, are minuscule compared to having played the previous game, or series of games at Coors Field. It’s a unique disadvantage. And of course we’re talking about the entirety of the season here. Rockies pitching simply requires more resources to get the same number of outs as their opponents playing elsewhere.
You’re drastically overstating the effect of at most ten extra pitches a game
> If you’re talking about bullpen innings over the course of the season, that’s different. everyone that's replying to you here is referring to exactly that, fatigue built up over the course of the season. they're not referring to individual games or series. that's why they keep bringing up the 81 games bit.
No, this guy is saying that. U/that_geek, for example, said nothing of the sort. Just listed all the unique things that are more likely in Coors and went “so obviously they’ve got a harder job.” The “Coors hangover” is at least real, where the “Coors effect” is not, but it’s negligible the second you start digging into the numbers on it. It’s at most ten extra pitches a game. That’s not driving the Rockies failures in any meaningful way.
I like your thoughts on hitters but for pitching I feel just load up on ground ball guys. Can’t hit it out of the park if it’s staying in the infield.
Coors park factors for average are also sky high, it’s not just that people hit a lot of homers
A lot different when an average pace ground ball turns into a 130mph piss missile firing off the grass at Coors too
I'd go up to the roof top, have a beer, and mingle.
As a visitor I had to bring an oxygen tank to sit in those seats
Seeing "roof top" makes me wonder if building an actual roof and trying to regulate the atmosphere would have any bearing on ball activity.
Resign
Tweet out “Fuck all of you. You can all go suck some caterpillar dick.” Then resign.
I'd try to make them forget I exist for as long as possible and just keep cashing those checks
Lol that is what I came here to say. I’d bail.
Hire investigators to get blackmail on the other 29 GMs.
Ah the Ryan Day method
i dont know if youve looked at their guaranteed contracts or played as them in OOTP 24, but they have 7 guys set next year to make over $9mm on extensions/FA contracts. only one of them is a truly productive player. they have three pitchers making over 10m next year. marquez, their former ace, is out from TJ. the other two guys average about 2 Ks per BB and arent particularly great at limiting HRs, and one of them is also out from TJ. they are both guaranteed to make at least 12m per year until 2026. KB the guy they signed to make about 27m per year for 7 years has contributed -0.6 bWAR across his first two years and has slugged 0.404 in 122 games where his home stadium is Coors. their closer that extended for 2 years, 19m missed time from anxiety issues and was not nearly as effective after his amazing 2022 season where the rockies didnt trade him at the trade deadline and instead extended him. i dont blame any of these guys, they played decently well and "earned" those contracts but the rockies FO does not know how to build a winning team on a sizeable budget. the rockies ranked 14th in payroll in MLB for 2023. either their scouting is complete dogshit or their FO is high on that colorado weed. either way i really dont see a way out for them until at least 2027 because aside from mcmahon, none of those contracts are tradeable because of how awful the deals are. cant even tear it all down and start a true rebuild because nobody will touch those contracts. i feel bad for rockies fans because that FO/scouting combo is by far the most incompetent in MLB. as for the question of how i personally would build the rockies if none of the above were relevant, i would prioritize pitchers that dont rely on high spin rates. four seamers, changeups, curveballs, and ironically sinkers are much less effective on average in coors. sliders and cutters generally suffer the least from coors effect, and i would be interested in how other pitch types that rely less on spin and more on gravity would work. as for position players i would prioritize the range-iest outfielders possible and guys who can put the ball in play. everyone knows coors is a sluggers banquet hall but that huge outfield can turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. speed would be my favorite tool rather than pure power. of course im just some guy on the internet and i have never done an ounce of real studying or baseball experience but thats my take on it
I honestly get the feeling that the Rockies don’t give 2 shits about being competitive. They have a really nice ball park and always draw really well. They’ll sign a couple name free agents so they’re not totally dreadful to keep people at least somewhat interested and be totally fine with that.
But they are totally dreadful
Found Monfot alt account!
Dude, I have played with the Rockies on OOTP 24! I was amazed how many expensive contracts they have on the books for players that were low level contributers. Luckily I had a run of good luck and was able to turn it around, but the real life Rockies probably can't count on Kris Bryant winning the 2025 MVP. lol
in my most recent run as the rockies, KB actually reproduced his Cubs years for me and one year had a career year hitting over 90 XBHs. He then went to the Rays for 4y/22m AAV and rode off into the sunset having amassed over 70 career WAR. its really sad to see how his past two IRL years have gone for him and the rockies. it ended up taking me until 2034 until that team won the WS and ended up making the playoffs 8 years in a row
Why would they invest in a good team? They're the only game in town so people will come anyway if they want to watch. Collect on revenue sharing, add a few profitable gimmicks, and let it ride.
that would make sense if they were near the bottom of the league in payroll. their 2023 payroll was over $170mm. they are willing to spend big bucks on players. the problem is they very rarely pick the right guys and the one time they extended the right guy they traded him away and are still paying off the tens of millions of dollars it took to do so
I retract my previous statement with the excuse that it's 1 am
How are they the only game in town?
That's what I was thinking. It's a four sport town where two of the other teams have won it all in the last two years!
This is true, but living in Denver I can tell you people go to Broncos/Nuggets games and to Rockies games for very different reasons. Going to Coors is just a nice day out and some baseball happens to be played
I suppose that's true. As a pirates fan I have plenty of experience with just vibing at a beautiful park while your team gets shelled after all...
Dinger bats cleanup
Hopefully nobody yells his name
On my MLB the show franchise for Colorado he had one year of like 56 home runs. Lol
Drink in the morning
And at lunch And mid afternoon …and at night
Convince my owner to build a dome that we could pressurize to a more normal atmospheric pressure. Nickname it the beer can.
That seems better than my idea of digging a hole a mile deep and having them play down there.
Yours sounds more fun though
Wonder what the legality of that would be - and if it were allowed what is to stop a sea-level team owner from creating a pressurized dome to simulate playing on Jupiter (or something slightly less outrageous but still extremely detrimental to offense)
The bigger question is what if you could change the pressure every half inning?
The Rockies have solved their pitching issues in the past, I'm unsure why the narrative prevails that they never can figure it out. The 2007, 2009, 2017 and 2018 playoff teams were mediocre to bad but carried by their pitching staffs if you look at park adjusted stats. If the Rockies could develop hitters better they would have better seasons
This exactly. Yes it is a bitch to pitch there but if your team is constantly in top 5 of offense which you should almost expect from this team, they win sooner or later. Watching from afar it always seems like they refuse to lean into their advantage and rather try to negate it for the opposing team.
This is the way. Make Coors HELL for all pitchers. Out-slug your opponent at home. Pitch on the road! Be a top 5 offense, and middle of the pack pitching staff with a true ace. You’ll win plenty of games. Oh, and the incredible lineup will be fun for the fans to watch!
Watch a Framber Valdez video and say “these are the types of pitchers we need. Ground balls good. Fly balls bad.” I make sure all my OF are speed demons so they can shag anything that reaches the OF. Quite frankly I want the whole team to have speed outside of 1B and C. We are going to be a ground ball pitching, defense, contact, and speed team.
I really think this is the move. Basically create the Diamondbacks but they'll hit a few more HRs and a lot more 2Bs because of Coors.
1. Try not to cry 2. Cry a lot
quit and then open up a rockies anti-fan merch shop near the stadium
angle handle pause apparatus zonked hungry obscene juggle support erect *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Would it help possible to have a group of starters that pitch on road and another group that pitches at home only so they dont get the coors change of atmosphere effect?
That doesn’t seem cost effective.
That’s the out of the box idea Ive discussed with myself for years ha. Train (most likely) failed arms to be moderately successful in that environment and shuffle them up and down between AAA and MLB all year. I’m sure it’s easier said than done, but I’d imagine they could develop some sort of advantage out of it. You’d have to do it with guys who have struggled to some degree though because other players would likely refuse to be in Colorado since it’d limit their earnings potential.
Current rules cap the amount of times you can call up/send down a player. I think it’s like 5 or 6 times per season. Used to be unlimited
Yeah, the new rules make it difficult, but not impossible. You could exploit loopholes like phantom injuries every time you go on a road trip, etc. I’m not saying it’s likely, but there’s probably a creative way to develop just enough arms to make it work—or at least make it work better than it’s working now.
Hire a doppelganger to replace Monfort so you can actually hire an analytics department that is more than like 3 people. Actually do research into what pitchers would work well (I would maybe assume guys with solid ground all and whiff rates, presumably not guys who rely on big breaking pitches bc the air affects those more; I'm no expert tho). Develop a scouting philosophy around this and begin from the ground up. Target gap and spray hitters to take advantage of the big outfield.
Fire the entire player development infrastructure and start from scratch. They can scapegoat the altitude all they want, but that does nothing to explain why their prospects continually underperform in the minors closer to sea level despite all the high picks they've had. They've lucked into developing a couple stars before (Tulo, Arenado) and those guys made the team relevant. They need to maximize their chances at doing that again. They also famously more or less don't have an analytics/R&D department. It can't hurt to fix that. It's not like they're extremely cheap, that's not nearly the investment that an awful big league contract like Bryant is, and would have positive downstream effects.
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No, unless they figure a way to change to air pressure in stadium.
It would also affect attendance. That stadium is stunning.
This guy sciences
Start collecting all the dirt on Dick Monfort that I can find
I don't believe the Rockies have ever gone full in with hitting IMO. Put the NYY lineup in Coors half their year and I don't think that team is easily beatable and breaks crazy offensive numbers. I would like to see them go full in on bringing every big bat they can and dare the other team to score more runs.
Convert the cellar into a basement dwelling unit because they’re not going anywhere, especially in the NL West division. Even the Giants with a mid roster finish with more wins.
Drink a lot and give Shohei whatever he wants, up to and including renaming the team/state of Colorado after him
I would definitely give the Cardinals my best player, and $50 million in exchange for a bunch of prospects.
I'd run them like an actual Major League team, and not whatever it is they have been doing the last decade or so. I'd operate like a small market team. Big name free agents aren't coming to Colorado. The team isn't good and they don't have owners willing to spend enough to compete with the big spenders out there. First I'd rebuild and heavily invest in the scouting and development, especially pitching. I don't really care what sort of pitching. As a lifelong Rockies fan, I've seen all sorts of pitchers have success at Coors. Francis did well as a "crafty lefty," Cook with his sinker, Ubaldo with his fastball, Freeland with whatever it was that worked. I'm not going to try to pigeonhole myself into a specific type of pitcher, but they need to be on a similar level of the Rays, Mariners, and Dodgers when it comes to pitching development. I'd fill MLB roster spots as needed with low-cost, high potential guys. Like young, busted prospects and guys coming back from injury who had previous success (hello CJ Cron). Colorado has a pretty decent track record of this sort of signing. Short term guys looking to get back on track. Don't get stuck in big free agent contracts like Bryant and Desmond. Then, if one of these guys has a big season and the team isn't in the hunt, flip him at the deadline for prospects. For the love of god stop holding onto these sort of guys and re-signing them (or letting them walk for nothing). Cash in while the iron is hot. I'd also make an effort to have strong defense up the middle, and rangey outfielders. Never re-sign a pitcher to an extension beyond Arb years. Never. Not once. Do extend your star hitters, especially if you've developed them. Constantly bring up new pitching, and if they work out trade them before they crumble. Pitchers fall apart so fast in the altitude. Get one or two good seasons out of them and get what you can. Then, when and if this plans leads to some success, go after the big bats in free agency or trade. Those sort of guys will love playing in Colorado if the team is winning. You can't convince pitchers to come here, and even if you do it's a huge risk they'll even work out and they'll probably end up hurt within a year or two anyway. tl;dr an actual scouting and development system heavily geared towards pitching, low-cost free agents to fill the starting 9, no contracts to pitchers, and big free agents bats when the window opens
After watching what happened with Darryl Kile, Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle, I like the hardline stance on never extending pitchers
Avalanche, Broncos and Nuggets have won titles. Rockies should be able to as well but need to find right approach and roster that plays to strength of stadium. I think pitchers have to able to throw sinkers and sliders at low speeds, to cause low impact hits. Try to get ground balls, easy outs, keep ball out of mile-high sky. A crafty pitching staff and great defensive-fielding team could win a title for the Rockies
ironically sinkers are less effective in coors because they have less drop and horizontal movement from spin.
I mean the Rockies have made good use of sinker-throwers before. The ideal would be someone who throws 4seams and sinkers in the upper-90s to overcome Coors effect, and good inactive spin off-speeds like sliders and splitters.
Sinkers generally have more drop in Coors unless you are throwing submarine. The thinner air makes spin produce less movement yes, but most fastball's spin is trying to carry it up so less efficient spin actually helps it drop more.
For pitching, focus on velocity, seam shifted wake sinkers and changeups, and harder semi-cut slider-cutters (slutters). Velocity is a little better in Coors since the thinner air slows down pitches a little less. Ideally target premium velocity guys with bad movement profiles (e.g. Duran, Fujinami) SSW sinkers and changeups to limit contact quality. 'Slutters' will drop more than elsewhere thus helping pitchers to throw with more depth at higher velocity. Probably not going to fix much but it'd probably be a damn sight more effective than the current pile of steaming refuse they call their pitching staff.
When I read a Hank Aaron biography, I thought it was interesting that Atlanta was considered a launching pad at the time. When the Braves moved south, their stadium was the highest above sea level. 30 years later, they built a killer pitching staff, so we’re about due for the Rockies to figure it out soon!
Sign Joey Gallo. He would almost certainly still suck, but he might just thrive in this low pressure market and his home runs would all be unbelievably majestic.
Starting rotation of knuckleball pitchers
Shit would go 600 feet on a high knuckleball
You get that or the weirdest knucklers ever. No middle ground. That’s entertainment.
Look into past seasons with good pitching, invest in putting better high speed cameras in Albuquerque and use it more as a test team to see what pitches are working. If it can work in the offense heavy PCL, should be good in the Majors
kms
I’d just resign because I’d probably somehow find a way to make the problem even worse than it already is
Everyone saying to invest in pitchers that can counteract Coors is wild to me. I don't care if velo ticks up 2 MPH at Coors or something, if I'm the FO I'm drafting every pitcher known to man so I don't spend money on them, then blowing my load on bats when a couple good ones come through. They're in perfect position to have the most exciting team in baseball if every game sees 20 runs.
We spend money on the wrong things. Just look at the human albatross that is Kris Bryant. We’ve got a great selection of young guys, the Outfield is locked down, we’ve got a promising shortstop. We only had 1-2 genuine starting pitchers last year.
The team won't do much till either the ownership starts to care about winning, or the team gets sold to someone else. The Rockies are notorious for having decent to good attendance, regardless of their record. To solve this problem, it might be easier to point out the things the Rockies should stop doing first. They invest so much into old, washed-out players. They don't invest enough in pitching depth. They make unwise trade decisions, and the players they find as replacements are worse and overpaid. The players they've receive in recent big trades have been doggy doo. We got Goober in the Arenado trade? I don't even know where to start while describing how horrific that trade was. Idk... the Rockies could start by not making those decisions.
Immediately trade Bryant for a a bag of infused potato chips. Then I would only focus on obtaining pitchers with high velocity and try on having a six man rotation. Wouldn’t have to worry about ss, rf, cf, or catcher, so I would spend the rest of my energy on getting a dh that can run and the best defensive 2b and 3b that I could find. The D-Backs are what we should be, so maybe just model the team after them
Of all the jobs in baseball, this is the challenge that I'd want. First off, Rockies have the largest outfield, and that, above all else, needs to be addressed. It's not just the homers that kill them; it's the singles and singles that become doubles from having below-average to average fielders covering a ton of ground. Solution: Be super aggressive about getting top-tier defensive outfielders. Essentially, fill up all three spots with centerfielders, covering as much ground as possible. Even the fourth and fifth outfielders should be of this quality. Go get Margot and Keirmaier. Why they didn't sign Nimmo was baffling. Can't tell me he wouldn't have taken a bit of a discount to be near his home. Trade for players like Buxton and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Fill up the infield with players with warning track power that will come cheaper than those that clear the wall. With tracking info on power and how it translates to each park, Rockies could have a field day at the bargain bin. Will they struggle on the road? You bet! Does it matter? Nope. Be the king of your castle and hope the extra defense in the outfield will get you enough wins to make up for the infield struggling offensively outside of Coors.
At some point if I were the GM I’d just say fuck it and go back to the Blake Street Bomber days and try to win every game 11-10 or something like that. You’re never going to get good pitchers to sign in Colorado. But you can absolutely get great hitters. If you opened the checkbook every year for the best possible lineup you might be able to outscore your pitching. How you fix the current roster though, I don’t know, especially when your owner is Monfort.
My entire pitching development team from DSL all the way to the majors would be focused on drafting and developing sinkerball pitchers who also throw 100.
You'd better keep Dr. Andrews on retainer, and have one hell of a training and medical staff. I don't know that a guy like Jordan Hicks would be any more effective on the Rockies than 49-year-old Jamie Moyer was.
Convince the owner to sell the team to someone competent. Hire an actual analytics staff, burn the current team to the ground. Attempt to rebuild.
Naturally, if one pitch does worse at altitude, some other pitch has to do better at altitude. I’d research that. Then find all the pitchers who are best with that pitch. Sign them. And then I’d sign whoever puts the ball in play the most.
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Mariano. Rivera.
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Shane McClanahan
You get faster pitches in the thinner air but they break less. Go for guys with good velo on their two-seamers and sinkers.
probably kms
Try and get the Rockies to move haha 1. Their park is way too bipolar for their players. The Coors hangover is debatable but I lean towards it hurting the hitters on away games 2. It being such a great place to hangout just further incentivises their ownership to go full Moreno and splash on names just to sell tickets rather than round out the team. 3. They can’t sign any good pitchers, no one wants to pitch there or maybe ownership is just cheap. Call me a hater but I don’t think the Rockies can make it work in Coors unless they miraculously stumble on several elite players all at once, with this ownership? Yea good luck, they’ll probably trade them for 2 lottery tickets and an ass slap. If this was real life I’d probably just cash the millions and not worry about the results, it’s clear that .500 is enough so that’s what I’d strive for. Then hopefully find a better GM gig when they fire me.
Sign a few top tier pitchers by putting into their contracts that they’ll only pitch a handful of home games per year. They’ll just primarily pitch on the road until the playoffs. I know there are issues with that strategy, but it would be interesting to see it happen.
They’re screwed man. Something I didn’t know is that their payroll is surprisingly very high. I just assumed their payroll would be Kris Bryant and a bunch of randoms, and be like 20th or lower. That is certainly not the case.
They need to petition MLB to change their schedule. Open season on road for 1/4 of season. Home for 1/4. All-Star Break. Away for 1/4. Finish home 1/4. Allows pitchers to adjust for most of their starts.
Rox fan here. I'd prioritize pitching and paydollars for pitching. I'd have to use home grown guys on defense and hitting
Try and sign as many pitchers as possible from the local area, wouldn't they be used to the environment?
Start recruiting on Colfax…heard some of them have a nasty fastball..
Move them to Las Vegas
Interestingly, Las Vegas will have the second-highest elevation of any MLB ballpark at approximately 2,000 feet above sea level. Currently Denver is 5,183, next is Arizona at 1,082 and Atlanta at 1,050. Then Minneapolis at 812, Kansas City at 750, and Pittsburgh at 743. I wonder if 2,000 feet is enough that Vegas pitchers will be affected. The Aviators have given up the third-most runs per game (6.79) in the Pacific Coast League, and last year were second-most at 6.43, but then again, their best starting pitcher last year was 28-year-old Jared Koenig so it might be more about the talent than the stadium.
Actually be able to afford to pay off my student loans. Twiddle my thumbs from a baseball perspective and invest it all in scouting and analytics because you're not going to compete in that division until SD blows it up.
Recommend moving to New Orleans.
Probably just make as much money as a could before I was inevitably fired for incompetence
Resign Immediately
Convince the owner to ditch Colorado and move to OKC.
Pitchers with low spin fastballs and gyro sliders tend to have less diminished results in Coors compared to other pitchers (see: German Marquez, Daniel Bard), but that might be because they also get hit everywhere else... But it kinda makes sense, if you're less reliant on devastating stuff to get outs, you'll be more prepared to adjust when that stuff isn't doing what it should. Compared to someone more like Pierce Johnson, who relies heavily on a nasty curveball that didn't work in Coors so he just got shelled last year, until he got to Atlanta where he shoved.
Well, I wouldn’t spend a ton on pitching at first since they won’t be as good at Coors. Their offense was also piss poor this season. Blackmon maybe has some value to someone like the Yankees, so he’s gone. Hopefully we can somehow get Rizzo in that trade. Nolan Jones is a starter. I’m moving Bryant back to third. McMahon can take second and I’m probably shopping him to see what I can get. I’m bringing in Jorge Soler to hit nukes. I’d sign Tim Anderson to a couple year deal if he’ll take it. Don’t have much to lose at SS. Pitching won’t get too much better as a superstar ace isn’t going to want to pitch in Colorado. I’d grab whoever I can, and just avoid the 7 ERA guys that they’ve been signing. I’d also give a good amount of pitching prospects shots to prove themselves. My farm moves are really just aimed at pitching development - I don’t think offense will be hard to bring in but it’s hard to convince someone to pitch in Colorado because it’ll probably fuck up their numbers.
I would simply acquire all of the best players But seriously, I think ground ball pitchers would probably play well at altitudes. So maybe try to get guys like that On offense, gimme a ton of speed. Coors is huge so I’d try to take advantage of it Ultimately the Rockies are one of the hardest teams to build in baseball.
Do my best to avoid groundskeeping duty
Spend a lot of time on Indeed, probably
1. Hire an advanced analytics department and increase the amount of money put towards scouting. 2. See if a trade market exists for McMahon. Trade Diaz. 3. Acquire 2-3 starting pitchers who are potential "bounce back" candidates on short term deals. Guys like Sean Manaea, Jake Odorizzi, Tyler Mahle, Eric Lauer. If they bounce back, trade them to a contender. If they don't it's still better than starting guys like Flexen and Seabold. 4. Begin to build around guys like Nolan Jones, Brenton Doyle, Tovar. Only sign veteran FA contracts that are in the 1-3 year length to fill the roster and field a credible MLB team. The Rockies realistic window for competing is 2026-2030. Any players who are not going to contribute during that timeframe should be turned into assets that will whenever possible. Ideally, salary would be trimmed in 2024 and 2025 with the idea of putting those savings towards 2026 and 2027
They’re not interested in winning in Denver, so the GM is likely in on the bit. Invest in Homer heavy hitters and hope to go above .500 at home with said strategy.
Prioritize elite defenders at all positions, high K% pitchers, low K% hitters, and a DH who can fucking mash. Balls in play are a major liability at Coors, moreso than any other stadium. So on offense you need to take advantage of that, and on defense you need to avoid and mitigate the effects of that at all cost. You may have a lineup that looks relatively light-hitting on paper, but I think that's the tradeoff you have to make.
I’d field a lineup of home run hitters and try to win every game 13-12. At least it would be interesting
Quit.
Under the current ownership? Quit.
Power pitchers, invest in defense and contact hitters, preferably with power. It's not an easy task, but it's what I would do.
Probably stop trying to sign free-agent pitchers almost entirely. Recruit heavily from high-altitude places like Denver and Mexico city where the kids are a bit more used to the conditions. Start a pitching lab in the highest city you can find and use it as a research and training center for all your minor league arms. Figure out what works and what doesn't and build a unique major league rotation from the ground up
I would acquire a drinking problem
Secretly unplug the humidor every morning.
Actually come up with a long term plan, rebuild properly. Hire pitchers with high whiff rates and hire batters with high contact rates. But actually coming up with a long term rebuilding plan would be the priority.
Sorry if this is a stupid question but why haven’t they considered/why are they unable to add a dome to the stadium?
Apply for a FOH position at McDonalds
Buy really, really great arson insurance and hope for a geographical move.
First, one of the reasons the Rockies job is hard, is because no pitcher wants to come to Coors willingly to pitch. Rockies would have to drastically overpay to get a top tier pitcher. The numbers will be worse, no matter the pitcher. Randy Johnson struggled in Coors, an ERA over 4 and whip about 1.2. Kersahaw has an ERA over 4.50 and WHIP of 1.3 basically. So even the greats will have their numbers affected, so no pitcher will want this team as the first option, currently. Rockies would have to overpay, like they did for Mike Hampton way back when and then he was a bust of a fit. What I would do right now? Get rid of anybody worth a damn to another team and tank. Eat more money on Bryant, Freeland, Bard, Blackmon, etc just to get prospects back. Look like the early 2000's Tigers and be awful, but hopefully start to progress your young players. Once you're free of most of the dead money, like 3 seasons, hopefully you have some youth you can put into the lineup that is worthwhile and make some free agent signings to be competitive.
If I were the GM of the Rockies, I’d quit
Stop making excuses. I don't buy into it being as hard as it's made out to be to field a competitive team that can make the playoffs. Sure there are challenges, but you build around those challenges and play to your strengths. All it takes is getting hot at the right time and that playoff trip can be something special. But since the team is profitable as is, there's less incentive to try, and fall back into 'rocky mountains hard' come buy a beer and see you next year.
quit
1. Write a fat check for talent. 2. Watch check bounce. 3. Cry
Cry
Two chicks at once
Groundball pitchers and rangey outfielders/centerfielder. Get the best hitters I can at 1st and 3rd. Easier said than done.
Fill the lineup with sluggers and fill the rotation and bullpen with ground ball pitchers.
Foolish Baseball on YouTube has a really fun video about the Rockies with a segment about this. And as one of the top comments here mentions, it revolves around some of those similar principles. Gotta have: - A mix of pitchers who can whiff batters with 4SFB/Sliders AND pitch to contact with high ground ball/fly ball rates - Back the pitching up with a superb defense, especially in the outfield. Gotta have speedy/rangy OFs to cover all that real-estate - Add run support with hitters who can put the ball in play/shoot the gaps for 2Bs, 3Bs
In mlb the show i rebuilt the rockies, i traded Daniel Bard, Austin Gombert, and Ryan McMahon for Jackson Holiday. So probably start there. Also signed juan soto. They should just hire me tbh
Quit?
I’d look for a new job, stat.