BIll Schmidt named Rockies permanent general manager

Bill Schmidt has been serving as the interim general manager of the Colorado Rockies since May, but that interim tag has since been removed by the team.

Schmidt will now be the permanent general manager in Colorado, and he is the fourth man to hold that position in franchise history.

Team president and COO Greg Feasel made the announcement on Saturday, just hours before the Rockies were set to take on the Diamondbacks in Arizona. In a statement, Feasel said of Schmidt, “He came into a challenging situation and quickly impacted the play on and off the field.”

This will be another year without a playoff appearance for the Rockies, but they were never supposed to be a playoff contender anyway. Not after trading Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals in the preseason and beginning what could be a semi-long rebuild.

The Rockies have played well under the leadership of Schmidt, and they entered play on Saturday night with an overall record of 74-85. Colorado hasn’t had a losing month since May, and they are trailing the San Diego Padres by less than three games for third place in the tough NL West Division.

Schmidt said, “The past five months have been important, and we want our fans to know that our baseball operations team is bringing a fresh perspective, approach, and energy.” He made some decisions at the Trade Deadline that will affect the team moving forward, and he will now be in charge of seeing it through.

It was Schmidt’s decision to keep Trevor Story in Colorado at the Trade Deadline, even though Story is expected to join another team this offseason. Colorado will have some money to spend, and it will have some young and intriguing prospects as well.

Schmidt has a long history with the Rockies franchise, having joined the scouting department all the way back in 1999. The general manager position became open in April when Jeff Bridich resigned from his position.

Danny Montgomery and Zack Rosenthal were also given promotions by the team on Saturday as they transition into new roles. Montgomery will be the assistant general manager, and Rosenthal will also become assistant general counsel.

Rockies Complete Historic Comeback

The Rockies have not stopped competing even after it became clear that their season would end without a trip to the playoffs. That was true on Friday night as well as they were able to complete a historic rally against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Arizona jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the third inning, but the Rockies were able to close to gap to just 7-6 heading into the ninth inning. Dom Nunez quickly tied the game with a solo home run, and it was Story that delivered the winning hit.

Story had a two-run single to give the team a 9-7 lead, and that would end up being the final score on Friday night. The Rockies delivered the 110th loss to the Diamondbacks on Friday night, and Arizona is two losses away from having the worst season in franchise history.

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