E.L. wrote:
Pundits were screaming at them to sign Grandal. Would've been perfect.
The Rockies have mismanaged so much over their 20+ year existence that it gets overlooked that they have probably blundered more at the catcher position than any other team in the majors. It's not that fucking hard to get a halfway-decent guy behind home plate, but as soon as COL gets someone good, they can't wait to get rid of him in favor of some hotshot rookie who never, ever pans out.
I don't think it ever got worse than in two separate situations. They famously turned their backs on Joe Girardi simply because he was the team's union rep during the strike that wiped out the World Series. He simply went over to the Yankees and won a whole bunch of rings as a player and then manager.
Years later, after spending insane amounts on Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle, they have Brent Mayne backstopping them and not only handling them well, but also hitting, AND being one of the few position players in MLB history to notch a win as a pitcher. What happened? Ownership ordered Dan O'Dud to ship him out for what amounted to nothing because they needed to save a few bucks (again...why do that when you just threw truckloads of money at those pitchers) and see if "catcher of the future number eight" Ben Petrick can be The Guy going forward. The clubhouse promptly falls apart and the Rox shaky season unravels completely, and not long after Petrick is diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, immediately ending his baseball career.
Oh and go figure, the catching prospects WHO DID actually turn into legit major leaguers, Brad Ausmus and Josh Bard, never ended up playing for the Rockies. The latter (who BTW was a Colorado native) was sent away in what O'Dud later admitted publicly was a panic trade for a guy who couldn't even fucking bat .200.
Anyway, I could go on forever on how the Rox and their incompetent owners have frittered away so many opportunities, but hope springs eternal, and Denver native Kyle Freeland has been named Opening Day starter. I still think the bats are far too weak, but Colorado has never had a rotation this strong, and I'm counting the 2007 World Series team in that assertion. The question now is whether the bullpen is good enough with the departure of their best reliever in Adam Ottavino.