Rockies Mailbag: Will Dick Monfort make changes in wake of one of MLB’s worst seasons?

Denver Post sports writer Patrick Saunders with the latest installment of his Rockies Mailbag Pose a Rockies- or MLB-related question for the Rockies Mailbag What will it take for owner Dick Monfort to make major changes in the front office and player maturation It s obvious the Rockies current philosophy doesn t work and necessities a complete overhaul I am concerned that they will focus on slight improvements in the second half of the season and think they can maintain the status quo Jeff Smith Denver Jeff your question and your concerns are on the minds of multiple Rockies fans I talk to You ask What will it take If seven consecutive losing seasons three consecutive -loss seasons and one of the worst seasons in major league history aren t enough to convince Monfort to make changes in the front office and rethink his own role nothing will I too am concerned that the Rockies slight improvement in the second half will convince Monfort to make only minor changes However the truth is that the Rockies need important changes on the baseball side They need to bring in someone from the outside to take a fresh look at the club I ve been saying that for years I m surprised it hasn t happened yet The Rockies are being very tight-lipped about the future of the front office Walker Monfort Dick s oldest son was promoted to executive vice president in late June I imagine that he has been working on a reorganization plan I ve appealed multiple people in the organization if they know what s going to happen and they all basically say I don t have a clue Whatever happens I don t think it will be revealed until the end of the season Here is my prediction on what will happen The Rockies will hire someone from outside the organization as president of baseball operations who will oversee the overhaul of the baseball side of the franchise Walker Monfort will have a hand in that project but will be involved mainly with the business side of the club The new squad president will replace current general manager Bill Schmidt but I don t know if the new GM will come from outside the organization Schmidt will be offered specific role in the organization although I am unsure if he ll accept it There won t be a complete overhaul because there are talented people in the organization who have a working knowledge of the club that requirements to be maintained Good day Patrick Thank you for your great coverage in another regrettable season Since starting pitching is apparently the greater part concerning aspect of the organization what type of pitcher and pitches profiles best for the conundrum that is altitude The disparity of throwing at feet then at sea-level stadiums has never been solved on a consistent basis Which is worse the drafting or progressing Take care Robert Emmerling Limon Robert thanks for your continued readership and for your interaction on X Twitter The pitching conundrum will reliably dog the Rockies That s entirely the reality of baseball at altitude The Rockies have attempted various strategies over the years including emerging an army of sinkerball pitchers The current plan is not to target a specific type of pitcher as much as it is to try to shape talent Rookie right-hander Chase Dollander is that type of pitcher favored with extraordinary talent though he s been terrible at Coors Field this season but good on the road The pitch that seems to work well year after year when properly thrown is the changeup Combined with a sizzling fastball the changeup is an effective pitch at Coors But it s also a tough pitch to master Related Articles Hunter Goodman hits th homer but Rockies dominated by Dodgers again Rockies say record number of losses is out of sight out of mind Rockies set franchise record with th loss getting one-hit by Dodgers Rockies Hunter Goodman named NL competitor of the week Rockies routed by Padres tie franchise record with rd loss of season Hi Patrick with German Marquez s pending free agency and the likelihood he won t re-sign why don t the Rockies designate him for assignment and give his final starts and opportunity to a prospect Keith Bailey Aurora Keith on the surface that might seem like a good idea but I disagree with your premise Given the state of the starting rotation and the lack of quality prospects ready for the majors it doesn t make any sense to cut Marquez and throw a young pitcher into the fire in mid-September The Rockies don t have good enough starters in the minors right now except perhaps Sean Sullivan or Gabriel Hughes However I don t think the organization wants to start their major league clocks yet The bullpen is already overtaxed and although Marquez is not pitching well he at least has the talent to pitch five or six innings and save bullpen arms Ultimately Marquez has been a warrior for the Rockies I think the organization requirements to show him respect and let him finish out his Rockies career in a classy way It s not as if the unit can salvage anything in the final three weeks of the season Hello Patrick Why is it that the schedule for an upcoming MLB season is circulated way in advance before the end of a preceding season whereas there is only a two-month window between an NBA schedule release and the start of an NBA season David Herrera Questa N M David I honestly don t know Perhaps it s because the season is so long and has to correspond with spring training If someone else knows the answer let us know Patrick why did MLB give the Rockies such a killer schedule in April There are games all against current playoff teams from this season except for the Reds and they are close I also see no sense in the Rockies completing their season s six-game home-and-home series with the Houston Astros by April Dom Longmont Dom the reason is that Major League Baseball hates the Rockies I m kidding of class There are so multiple variables in a -game schedule that quirky things are bound to happen There is no getting around it Weather conflicting dates miles teams have to passage on and on it goes If you want a good primer on the making of the MLB schedule check out this column from Jayson Stark I definitely really like the Rockies post-All-Star break young scrappy and contact-heavy lineup I think with added experience the lineup and bullpen could be playoff-worthy by This rotation is atrocious however Does particular combination of Chase Dollander Ryan Feltner Gabriel Hughes Sean Sullivan and others Konner Eaton Griffin Herring McCade Brown etc have a shot at being a new wave of good Rockies pitching like we saw in - Or is there a chance the Rockies pact from their glut of outfielders to improve the rotation Isaac Bowen Fort Collins Isaac I m not as optimistic about the lineup as you are though there s a chance that the Rockies could be a group in but only if we are considering young position players such as catcher Hunter Goodman shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and outfielders Jordan Beck and Brenton Doyle If third baseman Kyle Karros develops and first base prospect Charlie Condon becomes a power hitter at the major league level the Rockies could field a strong lineup However as you mentioned the starting rotation is a mess And right now the windows of opportunity for starting pitching and position players don t align Next year I see a rotation of Kyle Freeland Chase Dollander Tanner Gordon Ryan Feltner and Sean Sullivan Gabriel Hughes has a shot too Feltner who s missed almost the entire season with back and shoulder injuries is a concern So is Dollander s inability to pitch well at Coors Field As for your final point yes the Rockies need to agreement one or two of their outfield prospects for a major league starter who could help bolster the rotation for a season or two Rockies historically bad rotation necessities next wave of young starters to succeed This file is auto-generated function d l use strict l querySelector d addEventListener undefined typeof URL d wp d wp d wp receiveEmbedMessage d wp receiveEmbedMessage 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