Billionaire Dick Monfort cries poor, claims sport his Rockies stink at is unfair

The best part of spring training for most fans is hope — that this season will be better than the ones in the past, perhaps even a chase for the pennant at last.

But in the Mile High City, March means it’s time to reserve your dates and pay a few cover charges for Colorado’s favorite summer bar because the dream of winning baseball at Coors Field has been dead for nearly a decade.

The man who profits off of Denver’s drinking culture and the area’s love of the game is starting the season by complaining about what he believes to be the unfair dynamics of Major League Baseball. In an interview with Mark Kiszla of The Denver Gazette Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort blamed the system itself for his ballclub’s historic ineptitude.

“It’s an unregulated industry,” Monfort whined to The Denver Gazette. “Something’s got to happen.”

The problem isn’t baseball’s economic structure — the problem is you, Dick. And what needs to happen is you selling the Rockies.

Monfort can clutch his pearls about the Dodgers’ spending all he wants, but it’s far from the issue in Denver. The real tragedy isn’t the payroll disparity; it’s the fact that Monfort’s best plan seems to be wanting to overhaul the sport before he even considers overhauling his organization.

The Rockies are an extremely insular club with both their hiring practices of staff and their ideas of how to build a winning roster. Rarely does the team look at rivals and attempt to copy their winning ways; instead, the Rockies persist practicing their same old tired habits.

Under Monfort’s watch, the Rockies have been a laughingstock, a textbook case in how not to run a pro franchise. The Dodgers are outspending everyone this season, sure. But does that really explain why the Rockies have finished an average of 38 games out of first place over the last five full seasons? Does it explain why they’ve lost 100 games in back-to-back years?

No, that’s not a competitive imbalance issue. That’s a Monfort issue.

Last year, the Padres finished five games behind the Dodgers while carrying MLB’s 14th-highest payroll. The Rockies payroll ranked 17th in the sport to the Dodgers at No. 3. While there was about a $25 million difference between what San Diego and Colorado spent, Los Angeles threw about $100 million more of cash at their roster than their SoCal neighbor. The Rockies still finished far more games behind the more similarly priced Padres (32) than SD did behind L.A.

Rockies fans have heard Monfort beat similar drums in the past, as he relies on luck and nostalgia. He runs his team like one of his countless LoDo properties or 31 Romano’s Macaroni Grill locations.

It’s not about the money; that’s just one way to win in baseball. The Rockies were late to the game on analytics and had a smaller scouting department than the norm. The thing with the Dodgers is that they don’t just buy talent; they develop it.

The fact that some now look at the franchise’s defining moment in Rocktober as a bad thing should hint at how bad things have gotten. Some fans believe that because the Rockies had the most miraculous run in baseball history to win the National League, that the organization banks on it as always possible to sell the fans up a river without a paddle. It’s not me bringing 2007 up by the way; it’s Monfort once again.

“In the old days, you could get your young kids on the team and watch them grow up,” Monfort reminisced to Kiz. “Like in ’07… (with) Troy Tulowitzki.”

Do you know what team has built a young core and watched them grow recently? The Orioles. They did it the last two years. The Rays, who do not need people to show up to their games, have made the playoffs in five of the past six seasons and boast baseball’s fourth-lowest payroll. Both teams spend less on their roster than the Rockies.

So, what’s the difference? Those franchises have vision. Monfort might as well be playing fantasy football, operating on vibes and outdated strategies.

While Monfort mentions Tulo, Kiz says he and Monfort marveled at the possible MVP-caliber future of the Reds’ Elly De La Cruz and how he could possibly leave for a bigger club in the future. What the two seem to gloss over is that current Rockie Ezequiel Tovar has actually had a better start to his career than his shortstop counterpart in Cincinnati. Oh, and Tovar has won more Gold Gloves and has hit more home runs while adding more RBI than Tulo did, each in their first three seasons.

The 2007 team of Monfort’s dreams could have happened around Tovar with any sort of smarts, vision, or commitment. Instead, one of the best young players in Rockies history, who is already locked up to a seven-year deal, has spoiled behind the two worst summers in franchise history.

“The only way to fix baseball is to do a salary cap and a floor,” Monfort, the most recent owner to call for this, said. “With a cap, comes a floor. For a lot of teams, the question is: How do they get to the floor? And that includes us, probably. But on some sort of revenue-split deal, I would be all-in.”

Orioles ownership has also called for a salary cap, to be fair to Dick. But what the owners do know and hide under the guise of parity is that a salary cap is just a fancy way for owners to do wage suppression to the players. The salary cap hasn’t helped the NBA crown new champions. Even in baseball, the new and increased regulations aimed at parity have allowed many mid-tier franchises to spend less while hoping for luck to get them into the postseason. It’s added to the lore of the Dodgers because they’re one of the few clubs striving to win as many games as possible during the season and playoffs.

At the same time, Monfort will throw $182 million at Kris Bryant to be a mascot for everything wrong with the club then not take responsibility for the unwise decision. You had no choice but to give Nolan Arenado a bank-breaking deal, then panic-trade him for pennies when he dared to expect a winning team? While Arenado wanted the Rockies to build a winning roster, Monfort was busy building the reported $365 million real estate project across the street. Though the team has always claimed no connection between baseball and the hotel, many of the events during the 2021 MLB All-Star Game were hosted at the complex.

The Rockies aren’t suffering from a lack of money; they’re suffering from a lack of competence. The Dodgers don’t win just because they spend money. They win because they know how to spend it. Monfort crying so poor that he’s scared about reaching a minimum salary floor is rich. Not only have the Rockies proved over and over that they’re fine to spend around league average levels, but the family is completely focused on the cash cow that is the area around Coors Field.

It’s great that Monfort loves baseball, shows up to the games, and helps to keep Coors Field beautiful. He’s truly good at many aspects of ownership, yet he’s always fallen short when it comes to fielding the team. As long as Monfort is running the roster, this is exactly what the Rockies are: a purple piñata for the rest of the league to take swings at.

Before Monfort takes his next swings back at MLB through the media, he should have his club take some real swings at the plate. Baseball gave Colorado a heck of a chance when it granted Denver a team in 1993. The owners of the Rockies have responded by barely giving winning baseball a shot.

The Rockies do not have a legitimate gripe with how the game operates. They’re playing a different sport than the Dodgers, one revolved around selling beer and skyline views.

If the Rays and Padres want to complain about the Dodgers’ spending, fine, I get it to some extent, even if I disagree with the concept of a salary cap. But the Rockies? Blame yourself, not the system.