You can only wonder at this point (because we haven’t been able to ask him) if Jeff Bridich could have a do-over on the past four months, would he do anything differently?
You’d hope the answer would be ‘yes’, but you have to wonder.
A little more than four months ago, with the 2019 MLB regular season coming to a close, there was an unscheduled back and forth that began with separate media sessions, which included the Colorado Rockies’ best player, Nolan Arenado, and Bridich, the team’s General Manager.
In September, as part of a longer answer, Arenado quipped that, “it feels like a rebuild,” in reference to all the young, end of season call-ups who were getting regular playing time for the big league team. Asked for a response a couple weeks later, Bridich’s replied – also as part of a longer and less inflammatory answer – “if we were truly in a rebuild, (Arenado) wouldn’t be here to make comments like that.”
In most situations, stuff like that can be brushed aside. But losing turns people brittle, and when you’d planned on being in the playoffs, but instead you’re heading to the golf course, little stuff gets blown out of proportion. The flippant comments of both men got taken out of context and magnified.
The player got PO’d, and the GM dug in his heals, refusing for some inexplicable reason to put an end to trade rumors that inevitably come out of such public disagreements. So, as the off season continued, the trade rumors grew, even though at no point did the Rockies ownership plan on trading their best player. They’d signed him to a fat $260 million contract extension during the early days of spring training in 2019.
He was – and still is – seen as a cornerstone. He wasn’t getting traded.
Still, for whatever reason, Bridich allowed him to dangle on the imaginary trade wire. The national media had a feeding frenzy. The player understandably felt disrespected.
So now here we are, four months later, on the eve of Spring Training 2020 and both men will be back in Scottsdale in a few days, preparing for camp and the 2020 MLB season. They’ll both be arriving with the same objective in mind – getting the Colorado Rockies back into the postseason. Suddenly, largely because of an off season that veered off course, there’s some added pressure to do so.
Most of that pressure is now on Bridich, the same guy who engineered two consecutive playoff appearances. He’s now in pretty much a ‘must-win’ situation (of his own making) with Rockies fans, if not his bosses. Could he lose his job?
There are a couple different scenarios.
First, the Rockies could get out of the gate quickly this April and remain in playoff contention throughout the season. If that happens, what occurred over this past off season can be quickly forgotten. Arenado has seven years left on his contract, with an out clause after the 2021 season. If Colorado is a playoff contender at that point, and the GM is making moves to help that cause, there’s no reason to think the seven-time Gold Glove winner will want to give up the remaining five years on his mega-contract for the uncertainty of being a 30+ year old free agent (those guys are not getting treated very well these days). Everyone can just focus on a brighter present and immediate future.
However, what happens if the Rockies stumble out of the gate again, have another spate of injuries and get ineffective performances from players that the front office is counting on? What happens if the Rockies are out of contention by mid-season again?
In this second scenario, the GM gets put under the magnifying glass. He built this team and is ultimately responsible for a group of (to this point) underachieving free agent signees who have had a larger presence on the payroll than on the field.
If things reach that point, does he begin breaking up the team and look to rebuild — something ownership and the fan base do not want to hear about, considering most of the team’s best players are under 30-years-old?
A rebuild could mean the possible trade of the uber-popular Arenado, a future Hall of Fame player, in return for a group of unproven prospects. That kind of move could disenfranchise an entire fan base and leave ownership shaking their heads. Because it would also likely mean the tenure of star shortstop Trevor Story would be shortened. His contract is also up at the end of 2021. He too, could be traded or play out his contract.
In other words, what if the team that Jeff Bridich built doesn’t contend and needs to be dismantled? Who takes the blame and the fall for that? Manager Bud Black? Unlikely. He’s considered one of the best in the biz. It’s hard to see upper management cutting him loose and still retaining any credibility.
It would all fall on the GM.
So if the Rockies have to be rebuilt, does the guy who didn’t get it right the first time get to do the rebuilding?
To be fair, Bridich has done many very good things as the Rockies GM since he took over after the 2014 season. Two playoff appearances in his first five seasons sits atop the list.
Bridich signed closer Gregg Holland prior to the start of the 2017 season. Holland was an All-Star and the National League Comeback Player of the Year while tying for the NL lead in saves.
During the playoff push that season, he traded for catcher Jonathan Lucroy and reliever Pat Neshek, both of whom played significant roles in Colorado earning a wild card berth.
When Holland opted out of his contract after that season, Bridich replaced him with Wade Davis. Davis led the NL in saves while helping the Rockies to another playoff berth in 2018. Back to back Rocktobers had never happened before.
So there’s been some good moves. Still, these positives tend to get overlooked when we evaluate the job performance of a front office. Unless you win a championship, they’ve never done enough.
Bridich also has to own the bad. Ian Desmond’s five-year, $70 mil contract is…really bad. Desmond has been of minimal help thus far, largely because he doesn’t have regular defensive position. Relievers Bryan Shaw and Jake McGee have been busts, and the meltdown of Davis last season makes that look like a bad signing in retrospect.
Then there’s last offseason’s big misstep, allowing stalwart second basemen DJ LeMahieu to leave as a free agent and bringing in Daniel Murphy in his place. LeMahieu is a Gold Glove defender. Murphy is a butcher in the field. LeMahieu made the American League All-Star team last season and led the New York Yankees to the playoffs. Murphy hit .279 playing half his games at Coors Field. And did I mention he’s a butcher in the field?
All this negative stuff will matter that much more if the Rockies have another bad season. The further away the club gets from their playoff run, the more magnified the GM’s mistakes become. Some of what are now viewed as mistakes (like last season’s Davis meltdown) just come with the territory. It’s the unforced errors (like losing LeMahieu and the Arenado tiff) that sting the most.
Which brings us back to our question: Do you think Bridich would like a do-over on this past offseason? Do you think he’d like to reconsider some potential player moves that he may have passed on the first time, like perhaps a trade that wasn’t quite perfect, but in retrospect, doesn’t look that bad? Maybe the opportunity to unload a bad contract or two even if the salary relief isn’t 100%? Most importantly, do you think he’d like to take back his retort to Arenado’s off-handed comments and maybe avoid this whole trade talk fiasco altogether?
You have to hope he would, because the way he handled it the first time around didn’t turn out very well. But before Bridich could capitalize on a chance to undo some unforced errors, he’d have to acknowledge that they were errors in the first place.
Listen to Mark Knudson on Monday’s at 12:30 with Brady Hull on AM 1310 KFKA and on Saturday mornings on “Klahr and Kompany” on AM 1600 ESPN Denver.
Fire Bridich NOW!!