Colorado Rockies: Major league baseball, minor league minds
“Making a move, any move, could push the team in the right direction and get them to the playoffs despite everyone expecting the opposite this year. But the Rockies won’t do it. They’re like landlords who take your rent but refuse to get the dead racoon out of the duct work.”
We’ve got a huge problem. Five words you never want to hear, and when you do, a chill passes through you like a ghost making its way to the underworld. Or at least that’s how I feel when it’s said in the context of the Colorado Rockies.
The excuses and the sunshine force fed up our asses by the Rockies like meat into a Monfort sausage skin, are wearing thin. The Rockies have always said they won’t spend any money because they are still sooooo gun shy to do so because of the Denny Neagle and Mike Hampton deals. Well folks, those happened way back in 2000 – really give some thought to how long ago that was. But like any bad break up, the pain fades and you wade back in, looking for love and hoping to avoid heartbreak. Only the Rockies are still on the couch in their PJs, expertly playing the part of the spurned lover.
Rockies management has also used the excuse over the last couple of seasons that they felt they had the pieces necessary to compete, so why add payroll? Even when the team made the playoffs in 2009 we knew they didn’t have the horses to win, but yet we sat by nodding our heads pleased to watch one series of extra baseball.
For the last couple of seasons, the Rockies have been horrific. And the rationale behind not spending money has made sense: why spend money on any players who ultimately won’t help the club anyway? The Monforts had a good scam going. But now all the rationalizing in the world can’t cover up the ugly crack in the wall that is this reality: The Rockies have no intention of spending any money, even when perfectly feasible to do so, to fix this team.
There was quite a bit of grousing about the Avalanche as the NHL entered its free agent period and how it did nothing to shore up the team’s shaky defensive corps. Of course we all wanted a splashy signing but this team is intent on building as quickly as it can, without completely bankrupting its future. Defensemen Cory Sarich and Andre Benoit will do nothing but improve the still yet unproven (read: up until this point bad) defensive unit. Dumping David Jones’ contract and bringing back a still vital Alex Tanguay didn’t hurt either, so you can’t sell me on the Avs not making some moves and cracking open the bank vault at Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets are a bit of a catastrophe after an offseason that saw the firing of a coach, the defection of the GM, and several players who laid rubber out of Denver for greener pastures. But you can’t accuse the Nuggets of being cheap: they threw a ton of money at Andre Igoudala when they probably shouldn’t have, which proved the team wanted to stay competitive even when the spectre of a down season was seen haunting the halls.
And the Broncos? They just backed a Brinks truck up to Ryan Clady’s house and planted a money tree in his backyard. They also threw some cash around to get Wes Welker to leave New England. Do you think the Broncos are serious about winning? We all know the answer to that.
But do you know who isn’t serious about winning? The Monforts and their team, the Colorado Rockies.
The Rockies passed on Ricky Nolasco because the five million dollars they would have had to pick up was too pricey. I can’t tell you much about Ricky Nolasco other than the Dodgers felt they could pile on to their already outrageous payroll to help them get back into the playoff hunt. The same Dodgers that are now only 2.5 games back from the Diamondbacks for first place. Five million dollars? How much money would the Monforts rake in if the team made the playoffs this year? Wouldn’t it have been worth it to strike now and see if that would have been the reward? And if they didn’t make it, Nolasco’s money still would have been covered because Rockies fans are loyal to a fault and would spend their money for even the perception of this doing something to help the team.
The Cubs Matt Garza is also being dangled but the Rockies won’t bite. According to Troy Renck (@troyrenck) of the Denver Post, Monfort said they don’t want to trade prospects for a player that would be a “rental.” Fair enough. This demonstrates a modicum of fiscal responsibility. But what it also demonstrates is that Monfort doesn’t believe his team can even make the playoffs and they have no hope to retain Garza because well, Colorado is just too tough to play in.
Nolasco and Garza may not have been the answer to getting the Rockies over the hump. But the idea of Nolasco and Garza is. The Rockies are still, even with the ups and downs of this season, within reach of first place in the NL west. Making a move, any move, could push the team in the right direction and get them to the playoffs despite everyone expecting the opposite this year. But the Rockies won’t do it. They’re like landlords who take your rent but refuse to get the dead racoon out of the duct work. Meanwhile your neighbor’s buildings are being improved, added on to and given a new coat of paint.
We’ve all been to Coors Field and seen the thousands of people stuffing their faces and swilling beers. So if you can’t find the absurdity in the Rockies not spending a little money to make the team better AND SUBSEQUENTLY MAKE MORE MONEY in the playoffs, then you are probably working for the Rockies. If you are, please pass this along. But if you’re like the rest of us who want to support a winning organization but feel like you’re flushing money down the drain and into Dick and Charlie’s pocket, the huge problem, ever brewing at Coors Field, should be obvious to everyone.
