With new GM in place, Rockies will seek relievers and power bats

The Rockies officially promoted Bill Schmidt from interim GM to full-time general manager Saturday, and Schmidt, manager Bud Black and team president/COO Greg Feasel spoke with reporters (including Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post) about both the hiring and some of Colorado's offseason plans.

The chief priority will be adding relief pitching and power bats, according to both Schmidt and Black. Some of that power could come by retaining free agents such as Trevor Story and C.J. Cron, and Schmidt reiterated that the Rox have interest in re-signing both sluggers, as well as right-hander Jon Gray.

Even though Colorado was out of the playoff race at midseason, the Rockies controversially held onto Story, Cron, Gray and most of their other impending free agents due in part to this desire to keep everyone in the fold. In the wake of the trade deadline, Story indicated he was “confused” about not being dealt, and reports from back in June suggested that the shortstop was already planning to move on from the Rockies following the season. On Saturday, Schmidt said simply that Story’s future in Denver is “up to him. He knows how we feel about him.”

As to how the Rockies could retain their free agents, some extra spending appears to be in the works. Roster Resource has Colorado’s current payroll at just over $116.8 million, down from the Rockies' spending in the $157 million range during the 2019 season. With revenue levels becoming more normalized post-pandemic, Feasel said the Rockies intend to return to that higher spending capacity within two years’ time — “We think we are going to gain ground in ’22, and we think we’ll be back to 2018-19 levels in 2023.”

If Story did leave, his $18.5 million salary from 2021 could certainly be put toward a new contract for Gray and/or Cron. Next season is also one of the campaigns during which the money owed to the Cardinals as part of the Nolan Arenado trade dips down; the Rockies owe only around $5.57 million to St. Louis in 2022, before that number spikes to $21 million in 2023, and then $5MM each in both 2024 and 2025.

While the Rox have some cash available, it remains to be seen exactly how that money will be spent, or how Schmidt will operate now that has the full reins of an organization for the first time in his long career. The lack of activity at the trade deadline didn’t provide many hints about Schmidt’s plans, and considering Feasel’s payroll projection, any real serious expenditures could be held off until next winter.

The broader question also exists about how much things will really change in Colorado under the Schmidt regime, considering that he is already a long-time Rockies staffer, and owner Dick Monfort’s insular management style has come under heavy criticism. To this end, some new voices are expected to join the mix, as Schmidt said the Rockies are already looking to increase the analytics department. (An understaffed and sometimes-ignored analytics team was identified by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Nick Groke as one of the Rockies’ many issues in a harsh spotlight and critique of the organization last March.)

When former GM Jeff Bridich resigned in April, the expectation was that the Rockies would conduct an external search for a new general manager or president of baseball operations following the season. According to Feasel, however, Schmidt’s work as interim GM impressed upper management to the point that “he didn’t give us a choice…I mean, how many times you need to be hit over the head with a bat. And he was the right guy for us at the right time.”

Details about Schmidt’s contract weren’t released, and it could be that he isn’t working under a traditional deal, as Feasel said there isn’t a firm length attached to Schmidt’s role. “We consider him an officer of our club and we think that’s pretty special. His standing is not going to change,” Feasel said.