By Troy Renck

Copyright denverpost

Bill Schmidt worked 26 years for the Rockies. His resignation Wednesday came 25 years too late.

Don’t credit the Rockies for doing the right thing by forcing him out as general manager. Wait until they do the best thing for this franchise, the fans.

Executive vice president Walker Monfort said he will look for someone outside the organization as Schmidt’s replacement. An external hire misses the critical point. Everyone knows the insular Rockies need a new voice, a fresh set of eyes.

Autonomy for the next leaders — plural — provides the only avenue to fix this tire fire.

Hold your breath at your own risk.

Walker Monfort understands the need for change. But can he convince his father Dick Monfort, the team’s owner, to step away from all baseball decisions? His meddling is central to this mess. If he refuses to relinquish control, then Schmidt becomes the norm, a baseball lifer who failed upward by doing whatever the boss asked, including signing Kris Bryant.

Even letting Schmidt quit on his own terms shows how deeply flawed the Rockies’ process is, where loyalty remains valued over competency.

A strong case can be made that Schmidt is one of the worst talent evaluators and general managers in major league history. As GM, counting from the moment he took over as interim on May 3, 2021, the Rockies posted a 295-486 record. The 2025 team posted a minus-424 run differential, a nadir in baseball’s modern era. Calling this a rough season is like referring to the Titanic’s collision with the iceberg as a fender bender.

Worse, the players drafted by the Rockies over the past 10 years have accumulated a 9.8 WAR. That is the worst for any franchise during this time, and it’s not close.

Schmidt, even after he became GM, oversaw the selections in case you were wondering. It is why he should have been fired before the draft this summer or before the July 31 deadline, touchstone dates in a season to reshape a franchise.

A consultant should have been added in May when manager Bud Black was canned to conduct an independent audit. Had that happened, the Rockies would already have new leadership in place, or at least understood the changes needed. It is really hard to identify solutions when you don’t know the problems.

Which brings me to Thad Levine.

He makes a lot of sense for the Rockies given their lean towards the familiar and how they value relationships over everything. They know Levine. He worked in Colorado’s front office from 1999-2005 in a variety of roles.

But he should not be the next GM. He must be named president of baseball operations with Walker Monfort in charge of the business side.

The Rockies need a cultural reset, and Levine is capable of orchestrating this, but only if he is given independence without interference. Levine brings a wide range of experience, spending 19 years working outside the organization successfully with the Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins.

He also knows the unique challenge of baseball at altitude. It will forever make windows to win smaller because of how it impacts pitching. But it must be your ally, not your enemy.

The blueprint is simple: load the lineup with powerful homegrown bats and a few niche free agents, fill out the rotation with No. 3 and 4 starters and put together a nasty bullpen featuring velo and multiple arm angles.

Why does Levine fit? He brings positive energy and is an outstanding communicator. The Rockies need a mission statement, a vision and a chain of command. For this to work, Levine would report to Walker Monfort and Walker Monfort to Dick Monfort.

They need to trust Levine like they did Keli McGregor. When the Rockies were at their best, McGregor, who passed away in 2010, served as a buffer between baseball ops and ownership. McGregor also had a disarming personality that made him a great listener. Levine, too, is like this. And unlike McGregor, he brings baseball expertise.

This is where things get complicated without humility and self-awareness by Family Monfort.

Levine, alone, will be nothing more than a pebble on the beach without significant help and power. He needs authority to hire his hand-picked GM — his first calls should be to front office assistants Andy McKay (Mariners), Matt Kleine (Brewers), Alex Slater (Dodgers) and former GMs Dan Evans (Dodgers) and Jon Daniels (Rangers).

He must be allowed to bring in an assistant GM and scouting director. Adding analytic specialists is also long overdue.

The problem is that what makes Dick Monfort an outstanding businessman makes him an awful owner. He focuses on immediate return on investment, and he knows more about ROIs than RBIs. So, the party deck and McGregor Square were easy for him to view as successful ventures.

He has never understood how infrastructure is just as important in baseball as business, how extra scouts, mining data correctly and top minor league coaches can translate into victories at the major league level. Unlike a construction project, it is hard to see the value and progress on a daily basis.

The Rockies need to hit CTRL-ALT-DEL on their drafting philosophy and scouting.

This is why Dick and Walker Monfort must let baseball people make baseball decisions.

Levine will know what he doesn’t know and will surround himself with quality people. Given the looming labor stoppage following the 2026 season, the Rockies will likely act conservatively, not approving wholesale changes until a new CBA is in place.

So bring in Levine with five new lieutenants and use next season to change the culture, create new standards and fix the process.

And the only way this happens is if Dick and Walker Monfort cede control, and give the next baseball president and GM full power.