Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt resigns after dreadful season

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 a 119-loss disaster this summer.

The Rockies have begun an external search for a new head of baseball operations.

“Bill has been an integral part of the Rockies family for over 25 years with countless contributions to the organization over that time,” Rockies owner Dick Monfort said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful for his service, his friendship, and his dedication and wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future.

“As with any transition, Bill’s departure allows our club to seek a new leader of our baseball department, experienced in areas where we know we need to grow within the operation. A new voice will benefit our organization as we work towards giving our fans the competitive team they deserve.”

Walker Monfort, Dick Monfort’s son and the Rockies’ executive vice president, said that the club will look outside the organization for a new boss of baseball operations.

“We are setting our sights on finding the right leader from outside our organization 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,” Walker Monfort said. “This change delivers an opportunity to shape the future of our club and move forward into a new era of Rockies baseball.”

The future of interim manager Warren Schaeffer has not been revealed, though the new head of baseball operations will decide on the Rockies’ manager for the 2026 season.

The current state of the team is historically bad.

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.

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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.

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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.”

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.