Head shaking, empty seats in Rockies’ cards for 2021

Opening Day is finally here, and depending on how you feel you’re either excited it’s a new season and anything can happen or you’re dreading the start of what experts call an inevitable catastrophe of a season to come.

Bud Black and company are looking to change the experts’ minds this year after an atrocious offseason. To recap, Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort and general manager Jeff Bridich sent the league’s best third basemen, Nolan Arenado, and $50 million to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for left handed pitcher Austin Gomber, third baseman Elehuris Montero, right handed pitcher Tony Locey, shortstop Mateo Gil and right handed pitcher Jake Sommers. None of those prospects were ranked in the MLB Pipeline Top 100, and after the trade the Rockies still have one of the worst farm systems in place.

So what is there to look forward to at 20th and Blake?

One of the surprises from spring training was Gomber. Nicknamed “Big G,” he had an ERA of 3.20 in 19 total innings with 19 strikeouts — and not to mention a curveball that’s looks equivalent to Clayton Kershaw’s.  He impressed the coaching staff, as he will get his first Rockies start Opening Weekend on Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Julio Urias, who got the save for the club in last year’s World Series clincher.

Another prospect Rockies fans should be excited to see in “The Show” is Colton Welker. Winner of the 2021 Abby Greer Award, given to the club’s spring training MVP, he hit .362 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 47 at bats. Although there was debate on whether he should be a starter Opening Day at third base, he was sent to Triple-A Albuquerque. Don’t be surprised if his stellar play in the minors will translate to a starting role early in the 2021 season for the Rockies, as this should be a year for minor leaguers to prove their worth for a starting role with Colorado.

The last surprise player in spring training, C.J. Cron, absolutely crushed the ball, batting .354 with eight RBIs and five home runs — which one of which was hit 472 feet. He earned a starting spot at first base after Daniel Murphy graciously retired.

That’s the good news for the Rockies. But there’s always bad news. And it’s really cruel.

Scott Oberg was placed on the 60-day injured list after surgery to remove blood clots from his throwing arm. He gave a 30-minute presser on his future, which seemed like an unofficial retirement to focus on his personal health. Oberg sealed the Rockies only playoff win in the past 11 years in the thriller wild card game against the Chicago Cubs in 2018.

Kyle Freeland gave fans a scare after a shoulder injury in a spring training game. An MRI showed no extensive tear in the shoulder, but the fourth-place runner up of the National League Cy Young Award in 2018 will miss the beginning of the season. But Freeland is expected to return sooner than initially anticipated.

Another injury Rockies fans are sadly used to would be Brendan Rodgers, who strained his leg after attempting to swipe second base. There is no word yet on his timeline to return to a starting role.

Lastly, there is some more bad news from the front office. This franchise has been exposed nationally and is the laughing stock of Major League Baseball. After the Arenado trade, things haven’t been the same. National publications have interviewed former employees and current front office staffers about what their job is like day-to-day, and it’s shocking to say the least. Some employees said they performed normal duties working in analytics from as 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. but became “clubbies from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. — meaning they do laundry, go out on tobacco runs for the home and visiting players and do other basic clubhouse maintenance. Those jobs were furloughed during the coronavirus pandemic but were not filled after, and the analytics department were shining and cleaning cleats for players, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Nick Grove. Dick Monfort, the owner of the Rockies, made this decision.

Another recent Monfort blunder, he was quoted saying, “Just like most seasons, we are looking to be playoff-relevant by September.” My follow up question is, why wouldn’t you want to be playoff-relevant the whole season rather than trying at the very end? This team hasn’t won a division pennant ever, garnering only a handful of playoff berths and one World Series appearance. A fun fact about the Rockies, Colorado and the Seattle Mariners are the only teams to not win a World Series game in Major League Baseball history. The Boston Red Sox swept Colorado in 2007. The Mariners haven’t appeared in a World Series in franchise history, and they are riding the longest playoff drought in any of the four major pro sports — currently at 19 years. So I guess things could be worse.

Now that Arenado is out of Bridich’s grip, he has spoken about what has been different in St. Louis compared to Colorado.

“It’s a different vibe,” Arenado said.

“The meetings. The attention to detail. They talk about things I’ve never heard before as rules, plays, how we need to approach the plays. How we need to touch a base to go to the next base. If there’s a first and third situation, how I need to go, where to be. We went over the stuff in Colorado, but the way they explain it or the way they want you to do it is different. I love it.”

The Rockies are poised for a very poor season with very little expectations.  The only silver lining with little expectations is that it doesn’t take much to exceed those expectations. The Rockies could have decent offense with young talent that could surprise the rest of the league and a pitching staff plagued by injury could be in the middle of the pack. Truthfully, playing in one of the most competitive division, the Rockies have little-to=no chance of being a .500 team and are the only team predicted to lose 100 games.

The 2021 offseason was an embarrassment, and the season I predict will be full of head shaking, empty seats and calling for Bridich to resign and Monfort to sell the team. The good news is that Colorado is guaranteed Rocktober since game 162 is October 3^rd against the Arizona Diamondbacks.