Defining Colorado Rockies eras as they exit one and enter another

The Colorado Rockies haven’t existed for long, yet somehow they almost always seem on the precipice of pivotal changing points.

Oddly enough, despite their less-than-thirty-year-old existence, the ballclub of the Mile High City has carved out a pretty clear history defined by memorable short eras filled with intriguing characters.

Here in 2021, we know one of these eras has ended and a huge part of the current anxiety includes not knowing what comes next. But before we can take a look ahead, let’s take a quick look back.

Expansion Era (1991-1994)

The timeline for the club begins a few years before their first game was played. Really this era could extend years earlier to include all the hard work put in by countless individuals and business groups who put in thousands of collective hours to bring MLB to the city of Denver.

But what we are codifying here is the time that the team took shape. Beginning with hiring personnel, naming the team, creating the logo, making Don Baylor the first manager, and running their first ever draft thanks to the expansion of 1993.

Then you have the first couple of seasons, neither of which were close to being successful in the win column, both of which took place at Mile High Stadium which feels stranger by the day, and all of which still fell under the umbrella of a team in the process of creating its identity.

They soon found one.

The Blake Street Bombers Era (1995-1998)

While a few of the key players had been on the team the first two years, when Vinny Castilla, Andres Galarraga, and Dante Bichette were joined by Ellis Burks and Larry Walker, a phenomenon was born.

Coors Field became the club’s new home and it was christened by a blast from a bomber, a sight that would come to define this era.

They shocked much of the baseball world by zooming into the postseason in 1995, capturing the National League Wild Card in just their third year of existence.

After giving the Atlanta Braves (the NL team of the 90’s) a run for their money, they fell short and fell back.

Colorado finished over .500 each of the next two years and boasted the NL MVP in 1997 with Walker, the only man in the history of the organization to win the award, but could not get back to the postseason.

In 1998, the Rockies went 77-85 after moving Galarraga to make way for a rookie named Todd Helton. Bichette and Burks had down years. Burks and Baylor were out before the next season with Bichette following one year after that.

Then, things got weird.

The Missing Years (1999-2004)

Jim Leyland managed the Rockies for a year. Remember that?

That disastrous season resulted in the team’s first GM, Bob Gebhard, being replaced by Dan O’Dowd who had been a part of some deep postseason runs in Cleveland.

After that, Buddy Bell took over as manager for two and a half seasons. Colorado even finished over .500 in 2000 thanks to a herculean effort from Helton who was the best thing since Ted Williams.

Half-way through the 2002 season, Bell was fired and Clint Hurdle was brought in to try to oversee maybe the only true purposeful rebuild in franchise history.

This era is largely defined by Helton and Walker being superhuman and everyone else being… not. Unfortunately for Walker, he also began to struggle with injury and started reaching the age where it made sense for the Rockies to finally move on from him as well, trading the last Blake Street Bomber to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004.

Todd and the Toddlers Era (2005-2008)

Colorado bottomed-out in 2004 and 2005 losing 94 and 95 games respectively but ’05 was truly the beginning of the next era.

It saw the of a number of players come onto the scene who would eventually become known as “Toddlers” filling in behind veteran Todd Helton under the moniker “Todd and the Toddlers.”

Matt Holliday, Brad Hawpe, Garrett Atkins, Clint Barmes, Jeff Francis, and even guys like Ryan Spillborghs and Cory Sullivan were the new face of the team.

It didn’t lead to immediate success but the club took a strong step forward in 2006, going 76-88, winning 12 more games than they did the season before.

A second wave of rookies hit Coors Field in 2007 with the arrivals of Troy Tulowitzki, Ubaldo Jimenez, Chris Iannetta and Franklin Morales.

A few key acquisitions in Kazuo Matsui and Willy Tavares along with growth from now-veterans Francis and Aaron Cook put all the pieces on the board for a magical puzzle.

As you well know, the 2007 Rockies rode one of the best stretches in baseball history, winning 21 out of 22 games to bring the only World Series in history to the centennial state.

The 2008 campaign was filled with injury and disappointment.

And the 2009 season was getting off to a similar start. Holliday had been traded, Helton was aging, and Clint Hurdle was replaced with Jim Tracy sparking…

The Cargo/Tulo Era (2009-2014)

The first season with Tulo and Carlos Gonzalez, acquired in a trade that sent Holiday to Oakland, saw the club put up their best single-season record in franchise history.

They won 92 games despite a terrible start thanks to becoming one of the best-balanced teams Colorado has ever put on the diamond.

Jimenez and Cook were fantastic and joined by veteran Jasons in Marquis and Hammel. The true revelation was, of course, Jorge De La Rosa, who formed a dynamic duo atop the Rockies rotation.

Huston Street, also picked up in the Holiday trade, recorded 35 saves while only blowing two.

But the vestiges of the last era were soon to be either gone or shells of their former selves and the heaviest burden would shift to the young players at the center of it all.

They fell apart at the end of a very promising 2010 season and would keep falling apart for most of the next half-decade.

Unfortunately for the Rockies, both Tulo and CarGo would struggle with regular injuries and the team failed to build depth around them. Some of the more famous transgressions of this era include giving 10 starts in 2012 to 49-year-old Jamie Moyer and naming Kyle Kendrick as their Opening Day starter in 2014.

Colorado lost 98 and then 96 games in those two seasons despite their position-player talent. Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer each famously joined the team after successful stints with the Twins and won batting titles in Denver. Dexter Fowler was soon joined by intruiging-but-not-yet-stars versions of DJ LeMahieu and Charlie Blackmon.

But, just like during The Missing Years, no amount of star hitters could make up for the abhorrent pitching and the team was officially stuck in the mud.

Dan O’Dowd more or less fired himself after that season and Dick Monfort turned to the Rockies director of the farm system, Jeff Bridich, to take over as GM.

The Nolan/Charlie/Trevor Era (2015-2020)

The first big bit of business for Bridich was trading Tulowitzki, who it was clear the Rox were not going to be able to build around. Just a few months into the new GM’s tenure, Tulo was gone to the Blue Jays solidifying the end of one era and the beginning of a new one.

By 2016, Blackmon and LeMahieu blossomed into star-level talent and Nolan Arenado (who debuted in 2013) had become one of the very best players in the game.

CarGo was still around and still producing, Mark Reynolds joined the club to become a borderline All-Star and Trevor Story burst onto the scene with one of the most explosive rookie debuts in recent memory.

Those guys posted a Team OPS+ of 97, the fifth best offense in franchise history.

But once again, they could not pitch and were in desperate need of their upcoming class of arms to be real reinforcements.

As it happened, that’s exactly what they were. Jon Gray and Scott Oberg, quickly followed by German Marquez, Kyle Freeland, and Antonio Senzatela all made their debuts and combined with pitching-focused new manager Bud Black, ostensibly gave the Rockies what they needed to make back-to-back postseasons for the first time in franchise history.

They managed this despite the fact that the offense was getting increasingly worse as aging players aged and free agents flopped.

Hopes were still higher than they had ever been going into 2019. But a slew of injuries hobbled Colorado out of the gates and their lack of depth caught up to them again. A major setback for Freeland, who had been a legitimate Cy Young candidate the year before and one of the worst seasons ever from a closer out of Wade Davis were devastating.

Going into the July deadline, though, there was still hope to add pieces and make a run. But the entire team went cold, especially Arenado who drove in only two runs in the month of July and no help came at the deadline.

It was the worst month in franchise history both in terms of win-loss record and in terms of it’s long-term consequences.

Colorado quickly and mercilessly fell into the cellar and the damage had been done between star player and front office.

The following offseason was riddled with trade rumors and ended with a public spat between Bridich and Arenado. Then the season was cut to 60 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite a hot start for the club, Arenado never got it going in 2020. Reportedly dealing with a shoulder injury, he hit .253/.303/.434 for an OPS+ of 86.

That, along with an historically awful bullpen and more depth issues, led to the Rockies falling short of even the expanded postseason.

You all know what comes next. Dick Monfort instructed the trade of Arenado in order to save money and end the drama.

And just like that, another era has ended.

We are still in a little bit of a limbo. It remains to be seen if Story will be a part of the future or if his departure will be the final nail in the coffin of this time. Either way, this era of Rockies baseball has limped to the finish line whether they know it yet or not.

What Comes Next?

Now what?

Will the next era be defined by players currently with the squad? The current crop of starting pitching that may well be the best to ever don purple? The “Lost Boys” who, like Arenado, Blackmon, and LeMahieu before them, are currently looking to announce themselves on a national stage after those first few years of learning?

Or will it be another wave of young players? Will it feature a new GM or manager?

Could it even see a change in ownership?

It’s easy to be fatalistic about the Colorado Rockies right now. They appear rudderless and without direction.

But, perhaps the silver lining to that is that it puts everything on the table. Things can change quickly in this business.

Who would have thought in 1997, after three-straight postseason appearances with a roster that boasted the best player in the league, that in the next five years the club would switch GMs and have four different managers and not even sniff the postseason?

Who would have thought in 2012 or 2014 that just a few years later starting pitching would become the Rockies calling card and power them to the playoffs?

Who would have thought that Tulo leaving was the end of a long winter and the start of spring?

The future always seems so clear, until it happens.

We can’t say for sure what the team will look like in a year let alone three. If history teaches us nothing else, it’s that what unfolds almost always surprises our expectations upon using our inner crystal ball.

One thing we know for sure is that the next era of Rockies baseball will have it’s own cast of loveable characters and memorable moments.

They always do.