Bill Schmidt is no longer with the Colorado Rockies. Now what?

Apologies for running a day late. It was a news-filled week for the Rockies and a meetings- and grading-filled week for me with mid-terms on deck.

But in the meantime, let’s turn to the Rockies offseason.

The news dropped on Wednesday morning in a Colorado Rockies press release: general manager Bill Schmidt was leaving the organization.

(Please, Rockies, I'm begging you to stop centering text of long documents.)

Given the Rockies’ season, an abysmal 43-119 record in addition to their historic run differential of -424, the move was unsurprising. (For more historically infamous notes, check out this article from Skyler Timmins. If the Rockies needed more evidence that it was time for a change, Timmins provides it.)

Most fans focused on these four words from the new executive vice president, Walker Monfort: "We are setting our sights on finding the right leader from outside our organization [emphasis added] who can bring a fresh perspective to the Rockies and enhance our baseball operations with a new vision, innovation, and a focus on both short and long-term success."

Finally, then, the Rockies have admitted they cannot solve their problems alone and are looking outside.

The speculation has been, unsurprisingly, fast and furious though Jared Diamond was quick to point this out to cynical observers everywhere:

Rockies TV announcer Drew Goodman made the same point in an emergency episode of his podcast: Being the president of baseball operations is a highly coveted job as baseball nerds are eager to try their hands at solving the Rubik's cube that is Coors Field and playing baseball at elevation.

Now we wait to see who the Rockies will hire for the position and if they will have the autonomy to act. I tend to think this will be the case. Otherwise, why go to all the trouble of bringing in a new person? (Troy Renk makes that case here.)

One thing that, I think, gets overlooked is the exhaustion that accompanies being historically bad. I’ve hinted at this before, but his entire season was hard for the players, the staff, and, frankly, anyone who works at Coors Field. I assume the Monfort Family realizes that this is an unsustainable work environment. Based on this, I think the new PBO/GM (we don’t know which yet) will be free to act.

Patrick Saunders dropped a list with the name of five potential candidates:

• Thad Levine
• Andy McKay
• Jon Daniels
• Dayton Moore
• Billy Eppler

Truly, no one knows what the Rockies will decide to do — save the Monforts — but in all the speculation, it is Levine’s name that keeps getting tossed around. Consider this from Jon Morosi:

This seems significant.

I first wrote about Levine last summer as a possible external evaluator. He seemed then a good fit, and nothing has changed in my mind.

In addition to his experience in turning things around for losing teams, I tend to like the fact that he’s an excellent communicator. As a case in point, check out his podcast, Rosters to Rings. Do the Rockies need someone to rebuild their organization? Absolutely. The evidence speaks for itself.

But they also need someone to communicate what’s happening to fans because that relationship is in desperate need of rebuilding, too. Since certainly the Nolan Arenado trade, Dick Monfort has systematically destroyed the organization’s relationship with its fans, and that has to be fixed.

Neither Jeff Bridich nor Bill Schmidt were especially good on this front. Levine, however, would bring a different skillset.

We’ll know soon enough who the next president of baseball operations or general manager will be. (The new organizational structure is another question that has yet to be answered.) But the new hire, whoever they are, in addition to fixing a wrecked baseball organization, will need to build some bridges with an exhausted fanbase.

The Rockies will not be turned around in a season or two. There’s a good chance that the 2026 Rockies will be bad (though probably not 2025-bad) next season. And there’s also a good chance that a true rebuild is probably going to mean trading some fan favorites (Sorry, Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar.)

All of these moves will require the new PBO/GM to get fan buy-in because, presumably, a driving factor in the Monforts’ decision to make these changes was decreased attendance. (Last week, Bob Nightengale reported that the Rockies had their lowest season attendance since 2007.)

It won’t be enough for the front office to work behind the scenes with the scouting, farm, and analytics systems. For a while, the new PBO/GM is going to be the face of the franchise, and not just anyone can pull that off.

The Rockies will need to keep this in mind when making their decision, whoever their choice.

(I’m trying something new this week and have included an audio recording of this essay.)

Bill Schmidt is no longer with the Colorado Rockies Now what Rockies Pitch October 4 2025

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This week on the internet

The season may have ended, but Mickey Moniak’s epic slide lives on.

Whether Moniak will still be with the Rockies in 2026 remains to be seen, but we’ll always have this slide.

What I’m reading

• Rockies planning to utilize Senzatela as reliever in '26 | MLB.com — I mean, of course.
• Can the Colorado Rockies be fixed? Executives weigh in on how to rebuild MLB’s laughingstock | The Athletic — Call me naive, but, yes, I think they can.

Closing thoughts

We’ve entered a weird in-between time for the Rockies and their fans. It’s pointless to plan for anything or speculate about the future because there’s a good chance all of that will change.

As a writer, I’m pretty limited (which is probably reflected in this newsletter).

But as a fan, I’m very excited to see what a new PBO/GM can do with baseball at elevation.

Renee

Rockies Pitch is a newsletter that focuses on Colorado Rockies baseball.

Find me on Bluesky at @ReneeDechert.com or send an email to Renee@RockiesPitch.com.