Colorado Rockies: Dreaming of Aaron Judge in the Mile High City

To be honest, the 2022 Colorado Rockies lost my interest a few months ago. A last-place team 30-plus games out of first place will do that to even the most devoted fans.

The one thing that has kept my interest in baseball is New York Yankees’ right fielder Aaron Judge and his pursuit of Roger Maris’ American League home run record of 61 set back in 1961. The slugger is four homers shy from tying the record with 19 games left to play in the season.

As exciting as this chase is, what’s even more fascinating is that Judge becomes a free agent once this season comes to a close. This situation got my mind racing of the possibilities with the big #99 in a Colorado Rockies uniform and playing half of his games at Coors Field.

Thinking about Aaron Judge as a member of the Colorado Rockies

If you thought C.J. Cron’s 504-foot blast last week near the Toyota truck down the left field line was amazing, just imagine the things Aaron Judge could do. Balls hit off the batters’ eye in center field or even the first ever home run to the Rockpile. Busted video board panels above the concourse in left. Barry Bonds’ steroid-aided MLB record of 73 homers in a season also could be in reach.

Getting Judge to come to Colorado would cost owner Dick Monfort a truckload of cash, likely in the $40-50 million a season range, if not more. That is a ridiculous amount of money … but it could actually be a good investment for Monfort.

This season, the Rockies are fifth in the National League in attendance, averaging a little less than 32,000 fans a game, which is astonishing considering how bad the Rox have played. The addition of Judge would easily increase that number to 40,000 a game, if not higher.

The Rockies could even open up the stadium a little earlier to allow fans to watch Judge put on a show during batting practice, which also means fans are spending more time and money on concessions as they are in ballpark even longer than they typically would be.

Throw in the apparel and jersey sales along with increased television viewers and Monfort would easily have a return on his investment. And the cherry on top would be that Judge might just help the Rockies win a few more games.

I realize this will never happen as he will want to play for a perennial contender … but I can still have dreams.