If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does this say about the Colorado Rockies?

The Colorado Rockies are not the most popular sports team in Denver or Colorado, in general, right now. After a poor 2019 season, the 2020 season was doomed from the get-go. After going 71-91 in 2019, the Colorado Rockies thought they were still a team that was constructed that they should have been in the playoffs. So, they literally did nothing for their MLB team in the offseason (no trades and no free agent signings for an MLB contract).

It became even more doomed when the pandemic hit. The 162-game schedule was truncated to a 60-game schedule. While the 60-game schedule showed that some teams with less talent than others (e.g. the Miami Marlins) could sneak into the playoffs and some good teams showed less than stellar records (e.g. the Houston Astros finished under .500 but still made it to the ALCS), it was very indicative for the Colorado Rockies. They finished at 26-34, or a .433 winning percentage. In a 162-game season, that is equivalent to a 70-92 team, one game worse than the 2019 team.

The Rockies traded away their best player, third baseman Nolan Arenado, for what has been perceived to be a light return and the Rockies improved in 2021 … by three games. So fans are not happy with the team and, particularly, owner Dick Monfort but at least they got their wish in GM Jeff Bridich leaving the team.

The state of the Colorado Rockies is still not good if this picture is any indication.

That frustration is being shown primarily in the ratings department for the Colorado Rockies on TV. Since 2019, they have dropped more than 50 percent and, at least according to Baseball-Reference (via Jesse Spector), Colorado natives aren’t all that interested in looking at Colorado Rockies players on their site.

In fact, the most popular player researched on the site: Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield.

For most states, the 2021 AL MVP, Los Angeles Angels designated hitter and pitcher Shohei Ohtani was the most searched player. Merrifield is a good player and he’s on a team that is the next closest team to Denver but that’s not a good look for the Rockies.

AT&T Sports Net Rocky Mountain is available to watch via cable in parts of ten states and is accessible worldwide via MLB.TV and the KOA Rockies Radio Network has affiliates in five states, including Colorado. At least one state should have a Colorado Rockies player featured but it is not.

For the state of Wyoming, though, they were checking on the former Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado. Not even the state of Missouri was checking in on him the most. They were checking in on their former first baseman Albert Pujols.

It’s something that the Colorado Rockies need to address this offseason when the lockout ends: fan morale. If the Rockies actually do something, people may start to pay attention more but if it’s the same old, same old, people will find some other way to be entertained.