Rockies and General Manager Bill Schmidt part ways

After losing 100 games for the third-straight season, Bill Schmidt has stepped down as the general manager of the Colorado Rockies.

The Rockies announced that they will immediately begin an external search for a new head of baseball operations.

Schmidt became the official general manager of the organization on October 2, 2021, becoming the fourth general manager in franchise history. He originally joined the organization in 1999 as the director of scouting and was in charge of the scouting department for more than 20 years. Over those two decades, Schmidt helped the Rockies draft star players like Troy Tulowitzki, Jeff Francis and even Brad Hawpe. He also had a hand in signing one of the best pitchers in team history, Ubaldo Jimenez.

Those star players helped lead the Rockies to their one and only World Series appearance in a loss to the Boston Red Sox.

Schmidt also helped the Rockies draft Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon and Kyle Freeland.

“Bill has been an integral part of the Rockies family for over 25 years with countless contributions to the organization over that time. We are deeply grateful for his service, his friendship, and his dedication and wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future,” owner Dick Monfort said in a statement.

“We are setting our sights on finding the right leader from outside our organization who can bring a fresh perspective to the Rockies and enhance our baseball operations with a new vision, innovation, and a focus on both short and long-term success. This change delivers an opportunity to shape the future of our club and move forward into a new era of Rockies baseball,” Executive Vice President Walker Monfort said in a statement.

For years, the Rockies have failed to look outside the organization for help and they’ve always promoted from within. Now that the team has announced that they will begin an external search for the new head of baseball operations, this has to give Rockies fans some hope that they can begin to turn things around.

According to Mike Klis of 9NEWS, some of the names that have been mentioned that could replace Schmidt are former Rockies front office executive and Rangers and Twins’ GM Thad Levine, former Rockies’ front-office intern, longtime Rangers’ general manager and Tampa Bay senior advisor Jon Daniels, the Guardians’ Matt Forman and James Harris, the Cubs’ Carter Hawkins, the Diamondbacks’ Amiel Sawdaye and the Astros’ Gavin Dickey.

Once the Rockies make their decision on a new general manager, they will look to find the next manager of the roster if they decide to move on from Warren Schaeffer.

This move gives Rockies fans hope, since they are looking outside of the organization for some new ideas, as well as the fact that they have two of the best prospects in all of baseball in their farm system in Ethan Holliday and Charlie Condon.