Daniel Bard gives Colorado Rockies rare win in 2020 awards season

If you were among the fans that toughed out the Colorado Rockies’ nightmare 2020 season, then you probably know that the best story of the year for the team (and arguably the sport) was the return of reliever Daniel Bard.

Once a prominent reliever for the Boston Red Sox, Bard was released in 2013 and after a seven-year hiatus, returned to the game for one last shot with the Colorado Rockies at the age of 35. Not only did he make the team, but Bard ultimately became the club’s closer, posting a K/9 over 9 and an ERA+ of 145.

His success was enough to earn him NL Comeback Player of the Year honors. While this award certainly goes to show what tremendous work Bard has put in to return to living out his dream, it also reminds us of how quiet this awards season has been for the Rockies.

As fans, even after bad seasons, we are used to having several award winners and nominees across categories, including multiple MVP candidates, Silver Slugger, and Gold Glove winners, and, even recently, a credible Cy Young candidate. But this year was different. Until Bard’s win, the only sign this awards season that the Rockies even existed was Nolan Arenado‘s perennial Gold Glove award, But, with all the rumors surrounding his future, even that win and another Platinum Glove nod, felt empty.

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Over the years, fans have come to accept that this team isn’t the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Yankees. The Rockies have never won a World Series and have only played in one. And while we would love to see this team attain that level of success, that has never been the reason fans have followed this team. Whether it was Larry Walker, Todd Helton, or Nolan Arenado, fans have stuck with the Colorado Rockies because, whether they win or not, they have continually put forward some of the best players in the sport and will always play a competitive, entertaining nine innings.

But, at the moment, both the fans and the players seem left in a purgatory of uncertainty about the team’s absolute lack of direction. After two abysmal seasons and with some of the most miserable baseball this team has played in recent memory seemingly looming on the horizon, the front office does nothing.

They cut young, controllable talent on affordable contracts in the name of budgeting, but seem pathologically determined to hang on to disastrous contracts handed out to underwhelming veterans. They absolutely refuse to play the club’s top prospects, but wouldn’t even consider trading them when they were at top value either. Brendan Rodgers will turn 25 next summer and Sam Hilliard will soon be 27. This is supposed to be the future of this team.

Fans will continue to buy jerseys, whether the names on the back read Arenado and Blackmon or Hilliard and Rodgers. But the front office needs to figure out what they want to do with this team before they waste any more time, money, or assets because, right now, fans are clueless about where this team is going and who will even be on the roster on Opening Day and I’m afraid the front office is just as clueless.