Are the Colorado Rockies going to make more moves?

Regardless of whether or not you love or hate the recent moves that the Colorado Rockies have made, the Colorado Rockies are one of the most interesting teams in MLB.

Despite what many thought (including yours truly), the Rockies have made some moves to improve themselves for the 2022 season. Considering that the Rockies spent $182 million on Kris Bryant, it’s highly unlikely that the Rockies will make another move of that magnitude but to make themselves a contender, frankly, they still need to do more.

And they actually might, if a recent development is any indication.

Kris Bryant’s contract could mean that the Colorado Rockies have some more payroll available in 2021

Kris Bryant is going to get paid $182 million over seven years from the Colorado Rockies, for an average annual value (AAV) of $26 million per season … but he won’t be making that in 2022.

Bryant will only make $17 million in 2022. He also received a signing of $7 million, which still doesn’t average out to $26 million.

But if you are just considering the “salary” of $17 million, the Rockies may have made it that way so they will have some more money to spend.

Even with Bryant’s contract, the Rockies only have a payroll of about $121 million, according to Spotrac. For comparison, it was more than $157 million in 2019. Granted, the pandemic happened after 2019 and all teams lost money but Dick Monfort made plenty of money in 2021 with the All-Star Game and with McGregor Square.

Another interesting note is that Kris Bryant receives more money when Charlie Blackmon will receive less. Blackmon will make $21 million in 2022 but if he exercises his player option for 2023, he will make only $10 million.

If Dick Monfort is willing to spend money on Kris Bryant for seven years and if he truly wants to “win that elusive World Series” in 2022 or in the next few years while the Colorado Rockies still have their core starting pitchers, he has to authorize Bill Schmidt to make some more moves to get to them to that level.

Because Kris Bryant is not going to make a 74-win team a World Series winner by himself, especially since they lost Jon Gray and will almost certainly lose Trevor Story to free agency.