Colorado Rockies news and links for Wednesday, January 8, 2025
After nearly a decade, the Denver Broncos have returned to the playoffs after a 38-0 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in their final game of the 2024-25 season. By beating the Chiefs, the Broncos ended the longest playoff drought following a Super Bowl victory in NFL history. It was an incredible turnaround for a team that was burdened by a league-high $89 million but somehow managed to defy expectations to find success.
By reaching the playoffs, the Broncos have also passed the title of longest-running playoff drought among the major Denver sports teams to the Colorado Rockies, who last appeared in the playoffs in 2018. Both teams were relatively in the same position in 2024, and yet where the Rockies failed, the Broncos succeeded. What did the Broncos do that the Rockies could learn from to end their drought?
Nick Kosmider of The Athletic wrote an article breaking down how Denver managed to craft their roster and turn in their best season since 2015. In the article, a few significant points were made:
- Free agency was about solving specific issues with the roster, not just acquiring the top talent available.
- Heightened importance on player development and drafting
Free agency solutions
The Broncos had plenty of plenty of issues that needed addressing. In 2023 the team had the sixth-highest sack rate on offense. They also had struggles scoring points and the defense, while boosted by Patrick Surtain II, had its own issues.
Knowing they couldn’t pursue the top talent, the Broncos had to become reliant on savvy acquisitions via second and third-wave free-agent talent. Signings of Brandon Jones, P.J. Locke and Malcolm Roach all look like relative bargains considering the performances they provided this season. As Kosmider writes in his article, “By integrating specific parts, the whole became stronger.”
The Rockies’ approach to free agency has certainly been frustrating over the last few seasons. Moves have mainly seemed like unnecessary stopgap moves, like Kyle Farmer and Thairo Estrada, or simply misguided, like signing Kris Bryant and any number of cheap veterans.
A clear issue for the Rockies has been a stagnant offense plagued by strikeouts. The team views their problem as not putting the ball in play enough, but that’s just a surface-level blanket statement. How the Rockies are putting the ball in play is an issue just as much as how they aren’t. Rather than looking outward to address the issue, the team simply holds onto the hope that players will just play better.
Free agency has definitely not been the Rockies’ strong suit over the last few years. They rely heavily on minor league contracts, which can help depending on the player, but there is a lack of adding players that help the unit as a whole. Certainly, there are free agents out there that won’t break the bank, but can still provide quality production in specific areas of weakness for the Rockies.
Player development and drafting
This lack of free agent prominence leads the Rockies to think of themselves as a draft and develop type of organization. The organization has certainly drafted some quality talent potential over the years but the problem comes from the development of said talent. Over the past 10 years the Rockies have seen 35 drafted players (this doesn’t include international free agents like Ezequiel Tovar) reach the big leagues and accumulate a grand total of 9.8 fWAR. The next lowest team is the Chicago White Sox with 20.4 fWAR.
Failures in the draft, particularly in the first round, has been a severe detriment to the Rockies as they fail to regularly develop players to stick in the big leagues. They also have a tendency to wait a little too long for some players to arrive or even give them a chance to see what they have.
It’s certainly not a 1:1 comparison since football allows draft picks to immediately contribute like new first-round pick Bo Nix with the Broncos. Still, Nix is proof of what a quality young talent draft pick can do for a team during a historic rookie season.
Much like the Rockies, the Broncos had to rely on young player progression more than ever and the systems in place were able to make the most of newly drafted players and players that transitioned into more prominent roles. Shopping on a budget allowed them to try and prove themselves as worthy recipients of playing time and it worked out time and time again for the Broncos throughout the season.
The Rockies are trying to commit to a youth movement, but it’s also impeded by an unwillingness to move on from some players. They stick to the status quo, continuing the same song and dance and expecting different results. That would be fine if the team had a consistently proven record of being able to help big league players elevate their game, much like the Los Angeles Dodgers do on the regular. Development and progression needs to be a revitalized focus at 20th and Blake.
Moving forward
With the current state of the NL West and the Rockies as an organization, it’s difficult to tell if and when the Rockies will ever make the playoffs. They could do it in 2025 or it could be 10 years from now, you never know.
The statement that stands out the most in Kosmider’s article is this:
“Viewing the financial situation as an energizing challenge rather than an impediment was an important place to start.”
The main thing that the Rockies could learn from the Broncos is to stop making excuses about their financial situation or any other sort of hurdle they face, and start earnestly tackling the challenge that lies before them.
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Who will win the next 10 World Series? Here are some educated guesses | MLB.com
Good news Rockies fans, our purple players will make the World Series in 2034! Unfortunately, they will lose to the presumed Las Vegas A’s.
Yankees Reportedly Interested in Former Rockies Second Baseman Brendan Rodgers | Sports Illustrated
The New York Yankees are clearly in the market for a second baseman and former Rockie Brendan Rodgers could finally be on the move. Though, it feels wrong that he’d have to shave his beard and cut his hair by going to the Bronx.
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