Colorado Rockies catcher Braxton Fulford, left, reacts on the mound next to pitcher Germán Márquez (48) during the second inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
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The World Series is over, and the MLB offseason is upon us. This is the time to shine for general managers and presidents of baseball operations, when they test their mettle against each other as they attempt to build the most successful franchise. That can’t happen for the Colorado Rockies, because they still haven’t hired anyone.
Bill Schmidt, Colorado’s previous general manager, parted ways with the club after the regular season. Given that the team finished 43-119, it was plain to see they needed a change in direction. More than a month later, they’re still directionless.
Two assistant general managers from other clubs, Amiel Sawdaye of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Matt Forman of the Cleveland Guardians, were thought to be in consideration for the job, but that appears to no longer be the case.
The most recent rumor is that Adam Ottavino is in the running for the team’s top job. Ottavino spent 15 seasons in MLB as a relief pitcher, including seven years with the Rockies from 2012-2018. He last pitched in MLB for the New York Yankees this past April. As a recently active player, he obviously has no front office experience.
It’s unknown if Sawdaye, Forman, and Ottavino are the only candidates the club has seriously considered or if there are others who have not been reported. Either way, it’s a disturbing turn of events that they couldn’t reach an accord with either Sawdaye or Forman. While we don’t know the details of their conversations with owner Dick Monfort, most assistant general managers would jump at the chance at a promotion to the highest job in one of the 30 MLB front offices.
If neither of them were seen as viable, and now they’re considering a former player with no experience beyond the pitching mound, it’s questionable decision making for a team in need of a hard reboot. If the candidates thought the Rockies were too far beyond repair, that’s even worse.
Losing 119 games in a season makes them one of the worst ballclubs in MLB history. It was their third consecutive season with more than 100 losses, and they haven’t finished above .500 since 2018. Their 597 runs scored was the second-lowest in MLB, and their 80 OPS+, indicating their offense was 20% worse than the league average was dead last. As bad as their lineup was, their pitching staff was one of the worst in recent memory. They allowed 6.3 runs per game, which was nearly a full run worse than the second-worst team. For context, only three other ballclubs allowed more than 5.0 runs per game.
Now it’s the offseason and the front office has to plan for the 2026 campaign with no one in charge. They made a few minor, no-brainer decisions to decline the options of unproductive infielders Kyle Farmer and Thairo Estrada. The team only has four players under guaranteed contracts for next season—pitchers Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, and Kris Bryant, who you could generously categorize as a designated hitter.
The longer the search for a top baseball decision maker drags on, the further behind the Rockies will fall. Considering how far behind the rest of MLB they already are, that’s something they can’t afford to have happen.