3 reasons the Colorado Rockies could be better than people think in 2022

Let’s establish a baseline of what expectations are for the Colorado Rockies. Of course, no one has expectations for this team to be competitive for the playoffs or in the NL West. Vegas surely seems to echo that sentiment by putting the Rockies win total at 71 games.  Certainly the Rockies can get the over as they won 74 games last year after losing arguably the best player in franchise history to St. Louis. The Rockies had a .432 win percentage in the shorted 2020 season with Nolan Arenado in the lineup which averaged across 162 games is about 70 wins. They’re still likely to be fourth in the division because who ever knows what is going on with Arizona, but …

Here are three reasons why the Colorado Rockies will be better than people think in 2022.

Trevor Story gets healthy

If Story is on the Rockies come Opening Day, then things most likely went wrong for the Rockies legend. More specifically, the market wasn’t as receptive as he may have anticipated, especially coming out of the lockout and in a crowded landscape for shortstops. Under no circumstances does any Rockies fan want to see Story go. It’d be nice to see him locked up for the long term. It doesn’t seem likely that he’d like to stay as he expressed confusion at last year’s trade deadline when the club didn’t move him. It’s completely fair to say that the fanbase shared that confusion.

Regardless, at least the Rockies made him an offer so, if he does leave, the club gets compensated unlike how they approached negotiations with Jon Gray. Regardless, this could be an opportunity for Story to get healthy, show he is still one of the best shortstops in the game, and get the handsome contract he so rightly deserves. This may be a win-win for everyone. Rockies fans would get to see Story just a bit longer while he proves it in a prove it one-year deal. Story in the lineup will always lead to more wins.

Bill Schmidt makes it rain

The usual story during the offseason is how much this team is budgeting. Whatever you make think of the Rockies process of not looking outside of the organization for GM candidates, Bill Schmidt is what we have. He made moves last year that would barely register on the ticker at the bottom of the screen on MLB Network. Schmidt has said that the plan this winter is to add more pieces.

Spending money doesn’t guarantee success, but it is refreshing to hear and brings hope that free agents could be coming to Denver after the last few winters haven’t remotely seen a hot stove. Who knows, maybe adding Clint Hurdle as Schmidt’s assistant will bring a little ’07 magic back to LoDo. Maybe not enough to propel anyone to the playoffs, but certainly that’s worth more than 71 games.

The young core continues to develop

This isn’t exactly Todd and the Toddlers. Even if Charlie Blackmon is the only position player left who started regularly from their back-to-back playoff run, there are still some some bright spots about this roster.

This is still one of the best rotations the Rockies have ever had. Antonio Senzatela was extended and Kyle Freeland has a great chance to why he should be here for the long term. Jon Gray will definitely be missed more than they’ll know, but Austin Gomber has the chance to build on his solid start to last season.

Ryan McMahon showed that he’s more than up for the task of filling big shoes and Brendan Rodgers showed what he is capable of doing with more playing time. Hopefully they all continue to progress but, more importantly in the short term, hopefully those talks between the MLB Players Association and the owners progress more.