DENVER (AP) — For the Colorado Rockies, progress meant raising their win total by 15 games — and their ticket prices by around 12%.
They're in catch-up mode all over the ballpark.
"It's never fun and there's never a right time," club president Walker Monfort said Tuesday, explaining the price hike aims to bridge the gap between the Rockies and the MLB average. "Obviously, coming off of another 100-loss season, that's not easy to justify.
"Everything that we do from a business perspective, it's about becoming more competitive on the baseball field."
Monfort and president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta addressed a little bit of everything in a wide-ranging interview with media following a fourth straight 100-loss season. They chatted about starting pitching (no Rockies starter earned a win after Aug. 26), manager Warren Schaeffer (he received a vote of confidence), the looming lockout (staying ready) and injured slugger Kris Bryant (planning for anything).
"We've talked about progress, and I do think it's important to talk about progress, but let's not mistake it for being good," DePodesta said. "We're pleased with the progress, but we're not pleased yet with where we are."
A conversation about the ownership structure
One of the topics was the structure of the ownership group. The Monforts brought in Denver Broncos owners Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner in April through a minority investment from the Penner Sports Group.
But Walker Monfort said selling a majority ownership stake in the club isn't in the works.
"There's not a plan for that," Monfort explained. "Our relationship as it exists has been publicly explained. From our standpoint, they are partners. We entered into it to help to clear ourselves of debt that we took on from the COVID days.
"We're in a much better financial position today because of that partnership than we would have been had we not entered into it. ... It just gives us a ton more flexibility compared to where we were positioned last year."
Settling in with the new position
DePodesta took on the task of turning around the Rockies nearly a year ago. He equated the 2026 season to having a decent meal and then waiting 45 minutes for the check.
"When it ends badly, it just leaves a bad taste," he said.
The Rockies were trending toward potentially avoiding a 100-loss season. But they fell apart late, going 8-30 over their final 38 games, to finish 58-104. They were 43-119 a year ago.
Colorado became the first team since the 1962-65 New York Mets to lose 100 or more games in four consecutive years.
But there's hope — the Chicago White Sox, who lost 100 or more games every season from 2023-25 and then made the playoffs this year.
"This year, certainly objectively, if you look at a lot of the different underlying metrics, was a pretty significant leap forward," DePodesta said. "But obviously with the won-loss record, there are more leaps that need to happen going forward for us to ultimately be where we want to be."
Players on the rise
DePodesta pointed out the emergence of first baseman TJ Rumfield, who was acquired in a deal with the New York Yankees last January and hit .300 this season. Outfielder Jake McCarthy was picked up in a January trade with Arizona and had 15 homers to go with 32 stolen bases.
"Our expectation is there will be a significant leap next year," DePodesta said.
A sticky point is the status of Bryant, who's been limited to 170 games with Colorado due to injuries since signing a $182 million, seven-year contract before the 2022 season.
"Obviously, Kris wasn't able to play this year, so we just have to continue to stay in touch with him and see how things progress through the course of this offseason," DePodesta said. "I think we have to continue to move forward from a roster-building standpoint as if we're not going to have him. If we do, then that's a great bonus."
For DePodesta, he can dig in this offseason. A year ago, it was all a whirlwind.
"We spent most of November and December hiring the coaching staff, hiring a front office," DePodesta explained. "We're excited this year, sort of getting a jump on the offseason, and be ready to attack it aggressively."
