Craig Biggio should’ve been on the Colorado Rockies and you should be upset

Let’s set the scene: After the 1995 season, Biggio had filed for free agency. He had at least four teams in consideration for the 1996 season: The San Diego Padres, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Houston Astros, and our Colorado Rockies. He was coming off back-to-back seasons of being an All-Star while also winning consecutive Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers. He had put up 10.8 fWAR and 10.9 bWAR combined in those two years and a wRC+ of 144 and 145 consecutively (to help put things in perspective for today’s kids and all you other advanced statheads). He was a big fish in the free agency pool and the Rockies had a legit shot.

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The Rockies had just made the playoffs for the first time in their short existence as a franchise. Coors Field had just opened up. It made perfect sense for the Rockies to sign someone who would be a future Hall of Famer and catapult them into permanent baseball relevance.

Word is that Craig Biggio and his wife absolutely loved  Denver, which should come as no shock to anyone. We always hear that free agents in all sports love the Mile High City and its surrounding areas and many stay here once their careers are done. They wanted to live in the Mile High City and Craig Biggio wanted to be a member of the Colorado Rockies.

There are also rumors that Biggio wanted out of the Astros organization for some time. However, he wanted a tangible reason to give the Astros for leaving and the only team he would leave them for was the Rockies.

HE WAS RIGHT THERE IN OUR HANDS! WE HAD HIM!

Jerry McMorris, the Rockies owner at the time, was big on Biggio and wanted him in purple pinstripes. Who wouldn’t?

The answer to that question is former Rockies General Manager Bob Gebhard.

When the final round of negotiations were happening, the Rockies and Astros had similar deals on the table. The Astros were offering $22M ($5.5M AAV) over four years while the Rockies were offering $20M ($5M AAV) over four years.

Now remember, Biggio wanted out of Houston, but he needed that tangible reason to give the Astros for leaving Houston. Accepting an offer that would pay less wasn’t going to fly with them in his eyes. So Biggio and his agent asked for a fifth year on the contract and he would sign with the Colorado Rockies.

Bob Gebhard said no.

Bob Gebhard looked at Craig Biggio, a future Hall of Famer who desperately wanted to play baseball in Colorado, and said no. And on December 14, 1995, he re-signed with the Houston Astros.

Now maybe it would’ve made more sense had he asked him how to properly spell the name Kevin and he would’ve found out that Biggio would spell it “Cavan” for some unbeknownst reason. As a Kevin with a properly spelled first name, I would fully understand that. But do I think Gebhard even attempted to ask that question? Absolutely not.

“I thought we had an excellent chance to get Craig Biggio,” McMorris told The Denver Post in 1997. “We’re critiquing ourselves on our presentation and package.”

As they should. Either they were being too financially stringent and an extra $5M was going to hamper them, or they were sold on Eric Young at second base.

And it’s not like EY was a slouch. By today’s measure he put up decent value in multiple years with the Rockies. Not overwhelming, but he was a 2+ fWAR player consistently who provided a lot of value with his glove. But compared to Biggio, who had put up 15.3 fWAR in his three seasons prior to hitting free agency, it’s no comparison.

Bob Gebhard not signing Craig Biggio because he wanted a fifth year in his contract with the Rockies is undoubtedly one of the worst mistakes a Rockies GM has ever made.

Seriously. He loved Colorado so much that even after he re-signed with the Astros he helped other players sign with the Rockies, a la Darryl Kile. And, though I can’t find any writings on this right now, it’s fair to wonder if he helped to convince former Astro Mike Hampton to sign with the Rockies. That obviously took a different turn, but the point stands: Craig Biggio absolutely loved Colorado and he should have been ours.

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• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

Think about a Rockies team with Biggio at second base and how they’d perform. The 1996 Rockies would’ve improved by a couple games and that 83-win team may be closer to 85 or 86 wins, but it’d show an improving roster with consistent high hopes for the future. In 1997, they would’ve had the two best players in the league by fWAR (Biggio at 9.3 and Walker at 9.1) and they likely could’ve won the NL West after stealing a few games from the 90-win Dodgers. Maybe the slide in 1998 and 1999 doesn’t happen with Biggio providing a little more offensive boost.

But why stop there? What if a young hot-shot at shortstop who plays for the Seattle Mariners doesn’t re-sign with Seattle after the 1996 season because he looks over at a roster with a surging Larry Walker, an incredible Craig Biggio, the Tennessee Volunteers’ backup QB getting ready to man first base, the rest of the Blake Street Bombers in the wings, and only Neifi Perez in his way at shortstop? That’s right. I’m getting crazy and saying that Alex Rodriguez could’ve been a Rockie had Gebhard signed Biggio. After all, A-Rod’s contract for four years would’ve only cost the Rockies $10.7M, basically half the cost of Biggio. It’d have been a steal!

Now think about the 1997 season where the Rockies have the greatest season in Walker’s career, the greatest season in Biggio’s career, and A-Rod putting up 4.3 fWAR, far outpacing Walt Weiss at 1.7 and Neifi Perez at 0.5. That team could have made a serious, serious run at things.

But we’ll never know what could have happened. All we know is a future Hall of Famer wanted to play for the Rockies badly and Bob Gebhard said no because five years instead of four years was a deal-breaker to him. What a baffling mistake.

And because irony is rich, I feel the need to mention the fact that Craig Biggio got his 3,000th hit against the Rockies in Houston. The world works in mysterious ways.

So there you go. You now know the story about how Craig Biggio should’ve been a member of the Colorado Rockies after the 1995 season. May this be your reminder that while the Dodgers winning the World Series is painful, we still have a treasure trove of Rockies tales that will hurt you even more.

Congratulations. I hope you’re happy.