After their worst season in franchise history, the Colorado Rockies will be looking for a new general manager. Bill Schmidt stepped down from that role Wednesday, the team announced.
Schmidt was named the team’s general manager following the 2021 MLB season. He called it an “honor to serve in the Rockies family for over 25 years.”
The Rockies struggled under Schmidt’s leadership. The Rockies finished in last place in the National League West in every season in which Schmidt served as the team’s general manager. The bottom dropped out in 2025, when the team went just 43-119 and set the record for the worst run differential of all-time. The 2025 Rockies were outscored by an astounding 424 runs by their opponents.
With Schmidt out, the Rockies will perform a search for a new general manager. Team executive vice president Walker Monfort said the club is looking for someone with a “fresh perspective” and “new vision” to push the team forward.
It won’t be an easy task. The Rockies finished dead last in wRC+, an advanced stat that measures a team’s offense. Colorado was 25% below the league average as an offense in 2025. The team’s pitching wasn’t much better. The Rockies’ starters ranked 30th in the league with a 6.65 ERA. The team’s bullpen came in at 29th, posting a 5.18 ERA in 2025.
After graduating a few prospects to the majors in 2025, the team’s farm system ranked just 27th in Baseball America’s midseason update.
Due to the team’s miserable performance, attracting free agents to Colorado will prove difficult for whoever takes the job. The team has always been at a disadvantage on that end when it comes to pitching, as the heightened altitude in Colorado often leads to balls being hit harder and farther than anywhere else in the majors.
All those factors make the Rockies an incredibly difficult challenge for any general manager. While turning around the team will be difficult, the person who cracks the code and is able to consistently contend in Coors Field will almost certainly immediately be recognized as one of the best general managers in the game.
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