The Rockies have fired director of research and development Scott Van Lenten just six months after hiring him away from the Nationals, reports Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Saunders cites “major disagreements” between Van Lenten and the club regarding what his role would be moving forward. Thomas Harding of MLB.com adds that assistant GM Zack Rosenthal will currently oversee the Rockies’ R&D department while the club looks for a replacement. Remarkably, Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette reports that the Rockies’ R&D department now has only five employees — most of whom were hired by Van Lenten.
The Rockies championed Van Lenten as a pivotal hire who would be tasked with building out an analytics department that was sorely lacking and miles behind most teams throughout the league. His hiring, which came only a few months after owner Dick Monfort dismissed GM Jeff Bridich and promoted longtime scouting director Bill Schmidt to the post, was one of many steps that was framed as progress for the front office. Specifics on what prompted the relationship to go south so quickly haven’t yet come to light, but it’s worth pointing out that Van Lenten was sold on a very specific vision for his role at the time of his hiring.
“When the Rockies reached out and were interested in talking to me, I was excited but I wanted to make sure what I was getting into,” Van Lenten told Harding back in September. “I wanted to make sure they were going to provide the resources, make sure they were going to be supportive and have a real vision and are going to have the resources to do it the right way. They were very supportive.”
Plot twist: they’re doing this so he can talk to free agents
How much does it suck to be fired when there has been no activity for months & probably won’t be any action in the near future? Kinda like being in the middle of a desert, dying of thirst, & someone hands you a jar of peanut butter
Not really sure who all needs to hear this or who cares, but as person, Van Lenten really sucks. He also was untruthful on multiple occasions in such a short time period and there were multiple complaints about it him. Thats what got him fired.
Differing opinions of what the R&D stood for.
My guess: Repair & Destroy
I was thinking Refuse and Detritus.
Rusty and dented.
Renege & Delete
Ruffles and Doritos
Rockies & DUHHHH!
Re*ards and Dummies
He was a trash human being. Not questioning his ability as a analyst, but the way he treated people is what got him fired.
This means he needed a decent budget and cheap owners said no, arguments ensued and then adios.
When he was hired by the Rockies, he said one big challenge was teaching his 4 and 6 year old kids that they were no longer Nats fans, that they would now be rooting for the Rockies. Won’t anyone think of the kids?
Does being forced to root for the Rockies constitute child abuse?
Woops!
Dick Monfort before he dicks you.
Overlooked gem right here
They probably refused to pay the add on costs from Microsoft to add MS Access to their annual Office subscription.
No licenses for MS Power BI. 6 month free trial about to expire.
I use it and I hate it, like what an extra authentication layer? Is there more sensitive information within? Or is it just a way for them to compartmentalize access better with the diverse workforces we have nowadays. Frustrating at times probably should’ve finished up that…. IT degree.
I’m guessing they wouldn’t pay for a fangraphs membership. “Let him look at his mumbo jumbo words like woba and fwar with ads or not at all!”
AVG and ERA worshiper found
He is a trash human being. Not questioning his ability as a analyst, but the way he treated people is what got him fired.
This organization continues to show that the wrong plans have been laid out and that the wrong people are in place.
At least they are consistent!
Did they just drink coffee in the interview?? How could these “major disagreements” just pop up after only 6 months?
Not really sure who all needs to hear this or who cares, but as person, Van Lenten really sucks. He also was untruthful on multiple occasions in such a short time period and there were multiple complaints about it him. Thats what got him fired.
There must me some juicy backstory behind all of this.
Yep, it goes like this: the Rox are a backward organization and aren’t truly interested in real change.
It’s probably similar to the reasons behind why Jeter left it the Marlins.
Ding!
Another confirmation of the inept leadership. Hopefully Colton Welker will play this year.
Not really sure who all needs to hear this or who cares, but as person, Van Lenten really sucks. He also was untruthful on multiple occasions in such a short time period and there were multiple complaints about it him. Thats what got him fired.
The Rockies will suck in 2022 they will be fighting another organization that sucks the Arizona Diamondback to see who finishes last in NL West, two poorly run teams on 2020-2222
Hey, at least the Diamondbacks have won a WS!
Larry, also both teams taking their revenue sharing dollars and saying thank you.
I don’t think the D-Backs are anyway close to the Rockies’ dysfunction.
Team #1 to erase: Buh bye Rox! Bring in a real owner…. Next team up, claim your city.
“Yeah, Dick, sorry, but we’ve moved your office to the basement….”
Owners doing what owners do this year. “You want to do what? Spend money?! Yerrrr fired!”
Notable quotes: “Whats wrong with Windows ‘95?” – D. Monfort, 2022.
*insert dumpster fire gif*
Knowing the Rockies FO they probably felt it was time to jump on the analytics band wagon without understanding it or committing to it. Lentin probably went in and started doing exactly what he’d been doing for WAS. Monfort and Schmidt see this doesn’t mesh well with groupthink, so they toss him overboard before anyone in the organization begins to think clearly.
Monfort or Angelos? Who you taking?
Harkens back to Marge Schott’s view on scouts: “We PAY people to watch baseball games?!?!”
I already picture Schottzie poop all over the baseball offices. Wasn’t that the name of her giant dog she took everywhere?
Yes, Schottzie was her dog’s name, and he did drop a pyramid on the astroturf…
“The Rockies R&D department now has only 5 employees”
So, 2 research, 2 develop, and the last one makes the coffee?
Rockies gonna Rockies. I kind of feel bad for Van Lenten and it’s not shocking to believe that owner Monfort reneged on his words.
You calling him a “reneggar”?
Rockies don’t get enough recognition for the dumpster fire that organization is.
It’s a load of dumpsters on a flatcar that wrecked and caught on fire. Dumpster fire and trainwreck all rolled into one.
Truely the worst organization in baseball
At this point maybe the MLB should look to re-locate this franchise to another state with better owners. I am not sure if having a team at such a high elevation with low-rent owners is good for the game on and off the field.
Owners should be evaluated and advised every 10 years, with the evaluations happening more frequently if they fall into poor ratings in certain metrics, including competitiveness. If they do not improve, they should be forced to sell, even if MLB has to buy it.
Yet, fans continue to buy high priced tickets, Rockies are so sad, move them now.
This organization is a joke: top to bottom. After the manager and players rolled over and quit in 6 games against the Giants this past September, I lost all respect for Bud Black. They will finish dead last in the division this coming season. Hi
Hi
Considering this is the Rockies I’m going to assume he was too good at his job and wasn’t a good fit for the dysfunction that they usually like to feature.
Rockies are very comfortable in their mediocrity. Van Lenten threatened improvement, and so he was shown the door. What he didn’t realize is what Monfort expected was him to come in and say, “You guys are totally on track here. Nothing I do could improve upon the model in place.” Then all he needed to do was make sure he and his staff looked busy, and everyone would have been happy.
How does this have nearly 50 comments? Wtf
Well, at least three of them are yours…
The lockout effect
good!