There’s one very large negative regarding the Colorado Rockies surprisingly decent 2021 season.
The unexpected “success” in terms of a 74-win season – remember a whole lot of folks were predicting a 100-loss campaign in the wake of the Nolan Arenado trade – means that Rockies fans can expect more of the same next season. And the season after that. And so on.
Rockies owner Dick Monfort disagrees with everyone and anyone who thinks his model for running the local MLB franchise is broken. And you know what they say about something that aint broken. You don’t fix it. So he won’t. He did what was expected and elevated long time Scouting Director Bill Schmidt to the full time General Manager gig, and Schmidt’s first announcement was that the Rockies would continue doing what they’ve been doing.
Monfort wants to win just like everyone else. He just wants to win his way – the Rockies way, they call it – that promotes continuity in the front office and throughout the building at 20th and Blake. He’s not firing people and he’s not changing his ways. There are lots of fans in the stands. The home team is winning more than they lose, and the asset continues to grow in value. Why would he change anything?
For a lot of folks, the answer is simple: Because this isn’t a contending team right now and reaching the post season once or twice every decade isn’t satisfying enough for most.
Regardless, get used to the way Rockies baseball has been since 2005 being the way Rockies baseball will be for the foreseeable future, as long as Dick Monfort is in charge. And no, he’s not selling the team.
However…he won’t be in charge forever. At some point, Dick Monfort will retire and turn things over to a new owner. And while fans may not want to hear this, that new owner will also be…a Monfort.
For a fan base still dealing with the ongoing drama involving the family of late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and his offspring, the last thing you probably want to hear is that the Rockies ownership duties will very likely be handed down to a Monfort sibling when the time comes for Dick to step aside. But take heart. There won’t be an internal battle over who gets to run things, and there won’t be any unscrupulous “Trustees” to deal with. There are only two candidates in this race, and they’re both already learning on the job and gaining valuable experience in the Rockies front office.
That’s also the Monfort way.
Walker Monfort, at 34 the oldest of the two sons, has literally been learning about the Rockies organization from the ground up the past dozen years. The Colorado State grad began working at Coors Field on the grounds crew, before slowing climbing to his current position as Vice President of Corporate Partnerships. He’s been on that job for more than seven years now. His younger brother Sterling – a graduate of Arizona State – is as Assistant Director for Scouting Operations and has been in the role for just short of a decade himself.
Neither of these two young men are in a position of much influence on the baseball side at the moment, which is a good thing. They’re not ready…yet. Each is spending time learning the family business – the way Dick Monfort did as a young man with his father’s meat packing plant in Greeley. There’s no Brittany Bowlen scenario going on here. Neither of these men are going to just be anointed by someone with a self-serving agenda well before they’re qualified. They’re both going to work their way up the right way.
What they’re learning while working in their current jobs is that the organization needs to broaden it’s thinking. “The Rockies way” has not been a success. The rest of baseball features front office accountability, etc. The Rockies have been operating in a “parallel universe” according to national media. Things ARE broken.
There are actually good signs that perhaps some positive changes might already be happening. The club did recently hire Scott Van Lenten away from the Washington Nationals to take over the team’s lagging analytics efforts. He will head up the team’s “Research and Development” department. Apparently, he already has staff to work with him here, and the word is that the Rockies are planning on beefing up their use of advanced analytics starting right now, in an effort to catch up to the rest of baseball in that area. That’s helpful.
The hope should be that both of the younger Monforts get the chance to learn from Van Lenten – as well as the baseball people in the building – as they continue to work their way up the corporate ladder, so to speak.
While the Bowlen saga has understandably soured many fans on the idea of team ownership being passed down to a younger generation, it has worked elsewhere. The best example is the Rooney family’s ownership of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That leadership has never wavered. In cases where is has failed, it’s been because those inheriting the job weren’t ready of qualified to do so.
Here’s hoping that the younger Monforts continue to learn the game from the inside out and when it’s time to take over from their father, they have their own way, an updated (baseball) plan moving forward. That would be a home run.
Be sure to catch “The Park Adjusted Rockies Podcast” with Mark Knudson and Manny Randhawa available where you find all your favorite podcasts.