One of my little pleasures in life is going to check the mail to see if I got anything. There’s just something so thrilling about that walk to the mailbox and checking to see if I got another letter from a credit card company trying to get me to apply for one.
Last week, I asked our Purple Row community to submit questions for a mailbag. I appreciate those who felt inclined to send in a question and for the great community involvement in everything we do here on the site. Now, without further ado, let’s read some mail!
Has Tyler Bell had surgery yet and if so, where is he in recovery? — sdcarp from Roanoke
At the time of writing, there still hasn’t been a clear indication that Tyler Bell has undergone surgery to repair his non-throwing shoulder, but it may have already happened or isn’t too far off. The 10th overall pick reported to Arizona with the rest of the 2026 draftees for the onboarding camp and was then placed on the 60-day injured list on July 24. It was reported in July that he would work with the Rockies to determine the best course of action concerning his shoulder and the timetable for the surgery. His professional debut will certainly be delayed in 2027, but the hope is that he can be a quick riser through the system once he is healthy.
It’s also important to remember that since Bell is not on the 40-man roster and therefore not a member of the MLB Players Association, there will be nothing impeding him during the offseason in terms of working and communicating with the club.
The Rockies have not always been the laughingstock of baseball. They had baseball people like Bob Gebhard and Dan O’Dowd and Don Baylor and Clint Hurdle. I’m looking for the “bad guy,” the guy who just screwed the pooch, over and above Dick Monfort. It’s Bridich, isn’t it? And Schmidt was just over his head. Right? — Truchero from Girona, Spain
When it comes to the struggles of the Colorado Rockies, this is a million-dollar question. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly one simple “bad guy,” as you put it, because there have been contributions from across the history of the franchise. Ultimately, the laughingstock the Rockies became has to fall on the shoulders of Dick Monfort. Since taking majority control of the team in 2005, Monfort has been deeply ingrained in the operations of the team, especially after the tragic passing of team president Kelli McGregor in 2010.
The failures of Jeff Bridich and Bill Schmidt over the last 10 years were a result of an insular organization that refused to play the game the rest of the league was playing. Dan O’Dowd resigned from the team in 2014 after the meddling from the front office. Monfort rejected outside ideas and failed to spend his money wisely. It often doesn’t matter if you have baseball people in the organization if the person at the top is adamant about calling the shots. Bridich and Schmidt definitely have their fair share of the blame, but it wasn’t just them.
Monfort stepping away this season and allowing his son Walker to run the team alongside Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes has been a major reason 2026 has seen improvement. Baseball people are making baseball decisions and working cohesively among themselves and with other teams in the league. The 2026 Rockies are operating like an actual sports organization and not like a small-town family business it used to.
What in the heck is going on with Tovar and what are the club’s options in dealing with him? It is painful to watch his AB’s. He chases everything and misses the pitches he should be punishing. It seems the dynamic SS prospects are in the lower minors, so I don’t see options there. —Mountain Ball from Highlands Ranch
The struggles of Ezequiel Tovar have been one of the more frustrating stories of the 2026 Rockies. After a strong showing by Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, Tovar has not had any sort of rhythm this season. The frustrating part is that these are problems that have been known since he first broke into the league in 2022. He had excellent years in 2023 and 2024, but the obvious issues of his incredibly aggressive approach caused the league to adjust against him, and he hasn’t adjusted back.
Tovar is under contract for four more seasons with a little under $50 million guaranteed. There is also a $23 million club option for 2031. At the moment, it would be difficult to entice a team to take on Tovar and the rest of his contract with such poor offensive numbers. Yes, he is still an elite defender, but the value is just too low without having to kick in money and prospects you’d rather not part with.
So, the Rockies will have to continue working on Tovar on the fly. He is still quite young, having just turned 25 this season, so there is still plenty of room for development. The Rockies will just have to exercise patience and hope that he takes to coaching more and is capable of making the necessary changes in his plate discipline. There have been hints of what he can do when his bat is clicking, but the pressure is mounting for him to start producing on a regular basis. The reinforcements are creeping up behind him.
How do you think the Penner investment has impacted the organization so far? PDP’s moves seem to indicate to me that he thinks the club can be competitive in 2028. Depending on 2027 results, do you think the Penner money will allow PDP to exceed the budget and spend his way into the playoffs in 2028? — Marcus M. from Denver
The addition of the Penner Sports Group as minority owners back in April was a welcome surprise as they bought a roughly 40% minority stake in the Rockies worth about $670 million. After seeing how the Walton-Penner group turned the Denver Broncos into a legitimate Super Bowl contender in such a short time, it’s easy to have those aspirations with the Rockies now.
Greg Penner recently spoke to the media about the partnership with the Monforts at Broncos training camp last week and made it clear that the Monforts are still fully in control. Penner is focused on being a support and has no involvement in the day-to-day baseball operations. Still, the influx of cash was likely a nice boost for the club and could give the Rockies some extra wiggle room to throw some cash around in the near future. How much liberty Paul DePodesta will have to spend money in 2027 and beyond is going to be determined by what happens in the CBA negotiations this winter. It’s also worth keeping in mind that there could be a scenario down the line where the Penners end up purchasing the Rockies from Monforts should they decide to sell.
The staff at the Purple Row are all very talented and thoughtful writers. It really doesn’t make sense that so many long-time posters (and I am sure lurkers) spend so much time caring about and investing their time in this franchise whose on-field play has given us so few reasons to care for most of their recent history.
I think a lot of it is the talent and commitment to fresh content and viewpoints you get on The Row all year. What was the team, or the game, or the player or the moment that caused the staff to care about this team as much as many of us do? —WhiskeyDrinkingMan from Arvada
First off, thank you for these comments. We appreciate the constant quality engagement from the community. This year, we have seen increased engagement across the site, which is exciting because it means the Rockies are actually doing things that pique people’s interest, which we then get to write about. I can’t speak for all of our writers as the reasons for caring about the team vary, but the common thread is a deep-rooted love of baseball and the Rockies.
For myself, I love the Rockies since I’m a Colorado native and my dad was a fan from day one. My personal connection to the team solidified in 2007 during the World Series run. I was in sixth grade when the Rockies began the September run, and the excitement of my dad and my oldest brother made me pay closer attention. My dad got us Dish Network again so we could watch the games on television, something I hadn’t really ever done before. I knew about the legends of the team prior to 2007, but I was hooked on the Rockies after that.
Thank you again for the excellent questions! There were a couple that I hadn’t thought about before, and I was appreciative of the opportunity to think on these things.
Hopefully we can continue this type of article series during the offseason because we are definitely going to need things to talk about before baseball hopefully arrives next February.
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