Are the Colorado Rockies nearly the worst at every position?

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 28: Elias Diaz #35 of the Colorado Rockies looks on from the on-deck circle against the San Francisco Giants in the seventh inning at Oracle Park on April 28, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies are not the most talented team in baseball history. It is also already known that the Colorado Rockies don’t have the most talented team in baseball right now as well. But they are far from the worst organization in baseball.

Even in 2021, there were five teams in the NL with a worse record than them. But that doesn’t mean that FanGraphs doesn’t believe that they are the worst (or among the worst) teams in baseball.

FanGraphs ranks the Colorado Rockies in the bottom five in nearly every position

FanGraphs has been releasing their power rankings for each team entering the season and they ranked the Colorado Rockies at or very close to the bottom in every single position.

Overall, here is the breakdown of position players:

Catcher: 30th
First base: 17th
Second base: 24th
Third base: 23rd
Shortstop: 28th
Left field: 28th
Center field: 30th
Right field: 29th
DH: 26th

They haven’t yet ranked the bullpen or the starting rotation yet (as of this publication) so that will be an interesting read. But let’s look at the most egregious position player rankings on the list.

First off at catcher, if Elias Díaz produces anywhere close to where he was in the final four months of the season, it’s not going to the be worst in baseball by a long shot.

In fact, offensively, from June 2 through the end of the season, he was the fourth-most offensively productive catcher in the sport. One of the three ahead of him was Buster Posey, who has since retired. Even if Díaz doesn’t produce at that level, the Rockies are not dead last in catching.

CINCINNATI, OH – JUNE 11: Brendan Rodgers #7 of the Colorado Rockies is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a run during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on June 11, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati defeated Colorado 11-5. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

Second base is another area where FanGraphs was too harsh on the Colorado Rockies

Brendan Rodgers has been injured and it was his first full season in 2021 but is he better than Andrés Giménez for Cleveland and others directly ahead of him on their list? Yes. Maybe even in the 15-20 range but not 24th.

Third base with Ryan McMahon (and a few others) being at 23rd is insane. As Rockies fans well know, defensively, he was actually better than Nolan Arenado in 2021. The bat needs some development but he is, roughly, a league-average bat. Coupled together and that means he (and the Rockies) should be higher than 23rd.

Left field may be the most egregious. For a couple of years now, left field has been the barren wasteland of “let’s stick a guy who isn’t very good out there” for the entire sport. That’s why Jesse Winker was named the best left fielder in baseball by MLB Network when he has never played more than 113 games in a major league season.

More eloquently put, as Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs said in 2021, left field is “something of an island of misfit toys” and “a bit of a dumping ground on big-league rosters.”

Former third baseman now turned full-time left fielder Kris Bryant (and a few others) are projected to be 28th in the sport in left field? After he was second (second!) in fWAR among left fielders in 2021? He may not play like the best or second-best left fielder in baseball but third-worst? You must be kidding.

TORONTO, ON – SEPTEMBER 30: Randal Grichuk #15 of the Toronto Blue Jays flies out in the third inning of their MLB game against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre on September 30, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) /

FanGraphs was very harsh on the Colorado Rockies with center field

In center field, new acquisition Randal Grichuk is streaky at the plate and not a good defender. But dead last? And with this as a description:

“A good way of admitting to the rest of the league that you have no plan or even the ability to make a plan is to make Randal Grichuk your starting center fielder on purpose. That’s the Rockies for you, a baseball team that builds its roster like Family Guy writers build jokes: randomly, with no logic, and very badly … That feels right for this placeholder of a major league franchise.”

He’s not Mike Trout (who, coincidentally, was drafted with the pick after Grichuk, both by the Angels) but it’s not like he’s Choo Freeman. Pipe down.

Even a ranking in the bottom 10? Okay. Last? And the Phillies and Reds are ahead of the Rockies … and neither of them are even 29th? That’s not a great look (which admittedly comes from their projections, which are, again, not great).

The Rockies are a team that those on the national scale think are a team are one of the worst teams in the sport. But it’s a team that was only 4.5 games back of the San Diego Padres, the team that the “experts” thought would win 95+ games. The Rockies also went 55-53 in the final two-thirds of the season.

An in-depth preview of the 2022 Rockies. dark. Next

Again, the most talented team in baseball? No. Most talented at any of the positions? No. But the Rockies are not the worst team in baseball nor are they close to being it.

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FanGraphs ranks the Colorado Rockies in the bottom five in nearly every position

Second base is another area where FanGraphs was too harsh on the Colorado Rockies

FanGraphs was very harsh on the Colorado Rockies with center field

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