Strike 2: The 2018 Colorado Rockies won 91 games and beat the Chicago Cubs in the National League Wild Card game before falling to the Milwaukee Brewers in the Divisional round. Pretty sure most Rockies fans would love to be in that position in 2025.
The Rockies management would love it too. Even after letting go of manager Bud Black, who skippered that team that reached the playoffs for the second straight season, it feels like those calling the shots at 20th and Blake are still holding on too tightly to what’s left of that 2018 magic dust.
The dust, however, has settled. Now just dust in the wind.
Everyone involved in decision making at Coors Field has to get on board with the idea that 2018 is gone, and it ain’t comin’ back.
Black is one of five uniformed members of the last Rockies playoff team that was still part of the roster going into 2025. The other four are players, including pitchers Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela and infielder – and 2024 All-Star – Ryan McMahon.
All four of them should be former Rockies by the end of July. 2018 should be laid completely to rest.
For starters, it’s clear that injuries have taken a toll and robbed Marquez and Senzatela of their ability to consistently get big league hitters out. Way more often than not, the once vaunted pair of Rockies starters, who were so valuable in 2018, are throwing batting practice to the opposing hitters. Neither has the stuff or the wherewithal to help this moribund franchise get back in the general direction of respectability. They’re pretty much done.
Both of them should be given a nice parting gift as part of their outright release. That ship has sailed.
As for McMahon and Freeland, they’re still productive players of course, which means the typical Rockies’ way would be to drain them of everything they’ve got left before letting them go.
That’s the exact wrong way to build a winning roster or culture.
McMahon should have been traded last July, after being selected as Colorado’s lone All-Star rep. He could have brought a decent return a year ago. Now, after the Rox were shut out twice in a three-game span in Arizona (they scored 14 runs in the middle game of the series) the 30-year-old McMahon was hitting a robust .206. He still plays an excellent third base, and still has several decent seasons in front of him. It’s been reported that there are teams like the Cubs and Dodgers interested. We’ll see if the Rockies are.
In Freeland’s case, he would be the most difficult one to say goodbye to. Kyle is a hometown hero to a lot of Rockies fans. He’s been a dependable part of an often beleaguered pitching staff, taking the ball under almost any circumstances good or bad. Never once has he complained about the altitude or any of the excuses that other pitchers have given for struggling here. The fact is, Freeland deserves a chance at winning right now. Hanging onto him makes no sense. At age 32, he could still help a contending team that needs a solid lefthander.
The Rockies would be doing him a solid if they traded him to a team that has a shot at holding a parade, not a wake.
And they might get something worthwhile back in return, say a triple A starting pitcher, for example.
With young lefthanders Carson Palmquist and Ryan Rolison making their big league debuts this past week, Freeland’s replacements are on the way. Sending him to a place like New York would give the Thomas Jefferson High School product a legit chance at getting his season’s first W.
Rockies management has historically (over)valued their own, many times hanging on to home grown players well past their “sell by” date. But if the front office has ANY desire to help turn this franchise in the right direction, saying goodbye to 2018 and using it to acquire more ammo for the fight that lies ahead is an absolute must.
Strike 2: The Rockies need to say goodbye and farewell to 2018 Mile High Sports.
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