With Spring Training underway, the Rockies’ rebuild continues

With Coors Field currently blanketed in snow, and temperatures plunging this week in Denver, the Colorado Rockies are down south, preparing for the upcoming season. And, while hope may spring eternal, the new season also brings the reality that, the Rockies are still rebuilding, and will be for the foreseeable future.

With Spring Training underway, the Rockies do appear to be firmly behind longtime manager Bud Black, even though they won just 61 games last season, as well as general manager Bill Schmidt, who has offered hope to fans by feeling like the 2025 team has enough talent to be successful.

Is that really true though? It's not unusual for everyone in every organization to be excited in February. The truth of the matter is, the Rockies are not ready to make a big jump in 2025.

Colorado made few offseason moves in free agency, as their top three acquisitions were Jacob Stallings, Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer, Meanwhile, Charlie Blackmon, one of the greatest Rockies ever has retired, and Kris Bryant is seemingly unable to find the level of play that once earned him the National League MVP, let alone even stay healthy for a majority of the season.

In between is a young roster that does have talent, but, how long will it be before the likes of Ezequiel Tovar, Brenton Doyle and Michael Toglia end up as popular trade rumors, as is often the case with young talent on teams mired in a rebuild?

And while Colorado does have plenty of every day talent, the Rockies have struggled with their pitching in recent years, and playing in downtown Denver isn’t easy for even the best of MLB pitchers. 

So, with all due respect to the eternal optimism that always arrives with Spring Training, the fact of the matter is, the Rockies are in a rebuild that, to many fans, can feel like Groundhog Day. That’s because Colorado hasn’t had a winning season since 2018, and over the last four seasons, has finished 32.5, 43, 41 and 37 games back in the loaded N.L.West. Those numbers are staggering, and somewhat demoralizing for a proud and popular fanbase.

Indeed, Colorado fans are loyal and proud. And they want a winner. They’ll stick behind the Purple and Black through thick and thin, but, they’re still hungry for a return to baseball glory. Hopefully, ownership and upper management knows this, and hopefully, they will ramp up efforts to make it happen.

Unfortunately, that won’t happen in 2025. The Rockies are projected to once again finish last in the N.L. West, and the reality is, they most likely will. So, at least for this season, progress will have to be measured in other ways, because for now, the rebuild continues, and, the wait for a winning baseball team in Denver will continue.