General manager Bill Schmidt, the longtime overseer of the Rockies‘ “draft-and-develop” philosophy, resigned on Wednesday following the worst season in franchise history, the team announced.
Historically bad starting pitching, an anemic offense for the first half of the season, and an overdependence on several untested young players led to disaster this season.
The Rockies have begun an external search for a new head of baseball operations.
The roster constructed by the 65-year-old Schmidt produced a 43-119 record and minus-424 run differential, by far the worst in baseball’s modern era. Colorado’s 119 defeats tied the 2003 Tigers for the third-most losses. Only the 1962 Mets (120) and 2024 White Sox (121) lost more games.
This season’s failures followed the Rockies’ first two 100-loss seasons in franchise history — a 103-loss campaign in 2023, followed by a 101-loss showing in ’24. The Rockies have had seven consecutive losing seasons and last made the playoffs in 2018.
Rockies Mailbag: How much change is coming to Colorado this offseason?
Entering Schmidt’s fourth full season as the leader of the front office, the Rockies came to spring training confident they were about to turn a corner as a youth movement geared up.
“The young guys, the talent that’s in this camp, they are getting closer to being able to be a factor on the ballclub,” Schmidt said in February. “We’ll see where that goes.”
Where it went was downhill — in a hurry. The Rockies went 7-33 over their first 40 games, and longtime manager Bud Black was fired. Third-base coach Warren Schaeffer, a former manager at Double-A Hartford and Triple-A Albuquerque, replaced him.
Colorado’s starting pitching, ravaged by injuries, youth and poor performance, finished with a 6.65 ERA, not only the highest in team history, but the highest for any starting staff since ERA became an official stat league-wide in 1913.
Position players such as first baseman Michael Toglia and outfielder Zac Veen, both first-round draft choices, struggled mightily and finished the season in the minor leagues.
Toglia, a 2019 first-round draft pick expected to provide power, was demoted to Triple-A Albuquerque on May 31. He returned to the big-league roster but never performed with any consistency and was sent down again on Aug. 3. The 27-year-old slashed just .190/.258/.353 with a 39.3% strikeout rate over 337 plate appearances.
Veen, 23, the ninth overall pick of the 2020 draft, made his debut this season but played in just 12 games and hit .118.
Kris Bryant, the Rockies’ lone major free-agent acquisition during Schmidt’s tenure as GM, appeared in just 11 games as he continued to struggle with a chronic lower back condition. The one-time National League MVP, long coveted by owner Dick Monfort, has been a bust since signing a seven-year, $182 million contract before the 2022 season. He has played in just 170 games across his four seasons in Colorado with only 17 homers and a negative-1.6 total WAR.
The Rockies’ development plan has also failed to deliver. The club drafted 295 players from 2015 to 2024, with just 30 of those players making their major league debuts with the Rockies. Those 30 players hold a combined wins above replacement (WAR) of 9.8. According to FanGraphs, that’s the worst track record in the majors over those 10 years.
Schmidt, the longtime vice president of scouting, was promoted to interim general manager in May 2021. He replaced Jeff Bridich, who left the organization in the wake of the unpopular trade of star third baseman Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals and conflict within the front office.
“A lot of things can happen,” Schmidt said when he was promoted to interim GM. “At the end of the day, we have to win games. But at the end of the day, we are a scout, draft-and-development organization. That’s who we’re going to be. That’s not going to change. Do we need better players and add things to the club? Sure. There are a lot of different ways to do that.”
Rockies’ front office change: Five possible candidates to replace GM Bill Schmidt
In October 2021, the Rockies removed the interim tag from Schmidt and made him the permanent general manager. The club had previously said that it would conduct a search for its next GM at the end of the season, and also stated that the search would extend beyond the offices at 20th and Blake. That didn’t happen, even though the Rockies completed their third consecutive losing season after making the playoffs in 2017-18. When Schmidt was made permanent GM, the Rockies’ farm system was ranked 26th, according to MLB Pipeline.
Outgoing team president Greg Feasel, however, said that Schmidt impressed the club and owner Dick Monfort so much during his tenure as interim GM that the Rockies felt that he was the right man for the job.
“It was what he did over the four months, and then it just kept building, and I mean, really, he didn’t give us a choice,” Feasel said. “I mean, the intent was that we were going to go outside.
“But, I mean, how many times do you need to be hit over the head with a bat? And he was the right guy for us at the right time.”
Schmidt was the fourth general manager in franchise history, following Bridich (2015-21), Dan O’Dowd (2000-14), and Bob Gebhard (1993-99). Schmidt originally joined the Rockies on Oct. 1, 1999, and led the Rockies’ scouting department over the next 21-plus years. He was named vice president of scouting on Jan. 2, 2007.
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.