The Rockies lost 91 games in 2019, and they haven’t signed a single major league free agent, but Chairman and CEO Dick Monfort predicts a 94-win season in Colorado, per The Denver Post’s Kyle Newman. That would be a franchise high for the Rockies, who thrice have won 90 games but never exceeded 92. And of course, they have yet to capture their first NL West crown. Let’s stick with the Rockies…
- Monfort cites the 2007 to 2009 Rockies as precedent for his projection, who sandwiched a pair of playoff teams around an 88-loss unit in 2008. The core of the Rox’ 91-win team from 2018 remains largely intact (for now) with Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, and Charlie Blackmon leading the offense, while Jon Gray, German Marquez and Kyle Freeland front the rotation. Of course, questions abound for that group, from performance to health to Arenado’s recent comments about the team. The Rockies were a top-10 unit by measure of runs scored even in 2019, so a turnaround isn’t impossible. Significant, wholesale improvements from the pitching staff would have to figure heavily in a turnaround after the staff ranked 29th in the majors with a 5.58 ERA in 2019.
- Daniel Murphy will be a key player to watch in 2020, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Murphy seemed like a great fit for Coors Field heading into 2019, but an injury slowed the start of his season and the offensive numbers never really surfaced. Murphy doesn’t bring a plus glove at first base, so his contribution needs to come with the bat. A .279/.328/.452 line was his lowest mark across the board since 2015.
- Of the young players, Sam Hilliard has a chance to break into the everyday lineup, per MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. The lefty masher put up a 1.006 OPS in 27 games last year, an impressive audition. He’s a candidate to take the strong end of a platoon with Ian Desmond in left. Hilliard will have to prove he can make enough contact to see his name on the lineup card daily, but with his combination of speed and power, the physical gifts are there.
Yeah we’re not gonna win 94 games if Bridich continues to do nothing
someone should try and pry Tapia away from Colorado
Tapia for Ian Happ.
Happ is a far superior player
Tapia kinda sucks. Not really sure why anyone would have serious interest in a guy who doesn’t hit enough to play in a corner. Looks like a 4th/5Th OF/Pinch runner type.
Was the yakety sax song playing overtop of Monfort while he talked?
Don’t talk back
He’s not good
So the CEO is delusional. That explains a lot.
And marijuana is legal in Colorado
Guys he said 94 wins in Colorado. Include the Nuggets and they’ll get there.
Maybe. Might need the Avs help here too.
Nathan Mackinnon would probably be the Rockies #2 starter.
Cashner would be a nice fit for the rotation.
From the Rockies or divisional opponents perspectives?
From the Rockies. They need a veteran innings eater to go out and pitch 7+ innings every start, give up 4-7 runs, take some losses and maybe even pick up a few wins, but more importantly keep the bullpen rested. Whether person that is Cashner or not is debatable
The Rockies biggest problem every single year is using the bullpen WAY too much. They just don’t seem to understand that when you trot out a pitcher 4 games in a row, he begins to lose his effectiveness. They need a low cost, low-mid upside vet to take the lumps. Maybe even 2 or 3 that you could alternate throughout the season. The extra roster spot could be used as that, but the Rockies will inevitably just keep a scrappy utility infielder on the bench that has ZERO upside and bats .125. Classic Rockies.
Every team in the major leagues have multiple pitchers who can “eat innings” and give 4-7 runs. Plus, even the best pitchers in the game don’t surpass 7 innings very often, let alone Andrew Cashner.
But they COULD. Especially the type of vet pitcher that you don’t need around long term. This extra roster spot could be used for a 6th starter. Except you would keep a 5 man rotation. 4 regular starters and 2 pitchers that would share the 5th starter spot, but pitch once every 10 days, complete games every time. Whether you win or lose that game would be immaterial. You would be better in the next 4 games by giving your bullpen a day off. Those two pitchers could get about 16 starts a season and pitch 8-9 innings a start. That is not an inordinate amount of innings. And it could rally improve the overall health of your pitching staff.
Obviously guys could change spots based on performance and such. But I really think it could work. Especially for a team like the Rockies that uses the bullpen so frequently throughout the season.
My guess is forcing a mediocre pitcher to throw a complete game is going to be a losing venture a very high percentage of the time, and that means you’re essentially giving away 20% of your games to rest your entire bullpen for one day. How much of an advantage does that really buy in the next four games?
I’m all for innovative roster construction and pitcher usage, but the setup you’re proposing isn’t convincing in the way you’re describing. Why would it be better than, e.g., just building a deep bullpen that you can cycle though and keep them all relatively fresh?
Cashner at Coors field would be batting pratice
No pitcher would sign with the Rockies unless they really overpay them.,
In the same division as the Dodgers and Padres plus the Diamondbacks who made a few moves? I just don’t see it. That’s not an easy division and Colorado doesn’t have much in the way of pitching.
A 23 win increase after doing nothing to improve the club?
I strongly suspect that’s a bet I’d turn down…
Yikes! Monfort predicting 94 wins? Seems like a strange thing to do. It’s like that obnoxious white sox fan who always craps on threads about the Cubs. Monfort may be biased towards his club but baseball is better if you just enjoy it without trying to predict it. Sure, make projections but don’t get so specific, especially publicly. He (like that white sox fan) is probably going to end up looking ridiculous.
The problem with an owner saying it is they have literally no culpability when the prediction does not come to pass. Bridich and/or Black will probably get blamed and fired if Monfort misses the mark by too much.
I predict there will be 162 wins in Colorado next year…~80 will belong to the Rockies.
but there are only 81 games played in colorado 🙁
Colorado should definitely have 94 wins in the next 2 seasons.
Sure they haven’t picked up anybody meaningful to improve, but maybe they made some behind the scenes changes that will add wins. Could be a sophisticated sign stealing or PED program that none of us know about. We’ll have to wait and see.
Or they’re planning to add Nyquil to the water coolers in the visitors’ locker room…
I’ll take the under
The Rockies are trying to trade Arenado, to some team so then how would they win 94 games?
They need the 2018 versions of Freeland and Otto to have a shot.
The Rockies will be lucky to be 81-81 tram 2020.
Damn, how drunk was he when he made that statement?
We’re going to win *aims dart at a dart board* 94 games this year! Or at least this is how I imagine they came up with that number. Definitely not due to the actual talent on their roster or taking in to account their division.
You’re so right. When you sit down and figure they’ll have to win the vast majority of games vs LAD, AZ, and SD to even reach 90, the whole thing falls apart. The Rockies absolutely SHOULD dominate the Giants, but championship seasons are all about beating the bums as well as your elite opponents. Even if everything breaks just right for COL in ‘20, the pitching just isn’t there for them to get beyond the first round of the playoffs.
Monfort needs to just shut up. He don’t even know who he has on his team. If he was smart, he would force that idiot Bridich to trade away Desmond, Davis, McGee, and Shaw. They’re reason why they haven’t signed anyone to MLB contract this year.
I’m sure Bridich tried to trade them. The problem is that you have to have another team agree to take them AND your return would have to be better. I doubt any team would take any of those 4 players with giving you their own problem child in return.
There must be a weed dispensary down the street from the Coors brewery & Monfort is smack dab in the middle of the cross-winds if he thinks the Rox are going to approach 94 wins. While I think it’s possible for them to be competitive for a wildcard for much of the season, that amount of victories would be surprising IMHO.
Antoine Williamson
Ian Desmond is the modern Vernon Wells. They both fell off a cliff
And all Desmond had to do to pull down that contract was to have ONE magical season in TEX. Been in coast mode ever since. Nats knew what they were doing when they cut bait on him.
The Rockies are more likely to lose 94 games than win 94 games, even if they don’t have that many losses lmao.
94 wins means that Marquez, Gray, and Freeland will all need to finish in the top 5 in Cy Young voting. Arenado, Blackmon, and Story will need to maintain. Desmond and Murphy will need to bounce back big time. Hilliard will need to perform similar to Alonso in 2019. Lastly, Davis and McGee will need to pitch like Kahnle and Chapman did in 2019.
We all know the only way all those things culminate just perfectly is if Monfort hired a sorcerer or a genie this winter who can make it all happen.
Feel bad for the Rockies management. Unable to attract the good free agent pitchers even with a drastic overpay offer. Need to strike lightning in a bottle with homegrown pitchers. Not easy to be a GM there.
Maybe a slick way of putting the GM on notice that either the team wins or he’s outta there?
5.58 ERA. Sheesh.
They need a CF very badly. I had suggested in previous posts that maybe they line up with the Phillies in a bad contract swap of Odubel Herrera for Wade Davis. The Phillies could use a back end reliever and he would certainly improve on his 8.50 ERA pitching out of altitude. Herrera, if nothing else, is a major defensive upgrade to Ian Desmond. Desmond was deployed in over 70% of their games in 2019, in CF. That’s terrible.
The Phillies could even try to entice the Rockies with a prospect package centered around Alec Bohm and Adonis Medina, for Nolan Arenado and Kyle Freeland. The Phils could also throw in guys with MLB experience with upside: Nick Williams and Enyel de los Santos. The Rockies also want a MLB-ready or close to ready Catcher. Deivy Grullon fits that bill. If the Phillies were willing to eat ALL of Arenado’s contract and ALL of one of: Davis, Jake McGee or Bryan Shaw. I cant see how the Rockies wouldnt at least consider it.
J. Segura
O. Herrera
N. Williams
E. De los Santos
A. Medina
A. Bohm
D. Grullon
For:
N. Arenado
K. Freeland
W. Davis
Rockies fill their holes at 2B (Segura) and in CF (Herrera). Get a promising young catcher, a young controllable hitting machine to replace Arenado at 3B, rid themselves of their worst pitching contract and freeing up almost $250mil in future salary obligations. They also get two young, raw arms that could potentially be rotation staples.
The Phillies get a stud 3B who wants to win as bad as the Phillies do, on a contract that is huge but affordable to them. Davis can be the plan B if the Vince Velasquez experiment at Closer, fails. Freeland slots in nicely to the #4 spot, in between Arrieta and Eflin. He’d be the Phillies’lone lefty, adding some balance to the rotation.
Call me crazy, but it makes too much sense.
I am in favor of an Odubel for Davis, Shaw, Desmond, or McGee one for one swap. It could be beneficial to both teams.
You kinda lose me when you get into the 10-15 player deal that only happens on video games.
Perhaps Monfort’s definition of a win is different than everyone else’s.
He’s gotta be factoring in moral victories.
I think Monfort just told everyone (if you read between the lines) that they are planning to cheat on 2020.
94? I didn’t know the Rocks played the Giants that many times
Well played
The Hilliard kid looks pretty good.
The Rockies could win 94 games…if they realigned and put them in a division with the Marlins, Pirates, Orioles, and Tigers.
Right? I’ll bet if we look closely at the speech balloons that came outta Monfort’s mouth when he said all this we’d see a ton of fine print and legalese. I keep thinking about a maintenance supervisor who once worked for me. He used to say, “If is a big word. If my aunt had stones she’d be my uncle.”
Murphy is a heck of a ball player… I’d love to have him on my team. Heck, if he could play 3rd, I’d take a risk on him today. Too many people hate on him, but he’s had a really good career and his production today is just fine
He also is 36. Bridich should never have signed him, also Montfort is crazy if he thinks they win 94 as is.