The Matrix of Hopelessness in MLB

The Colorado Rockies fired their manager, Bud Black, after, ironically, their 7th win of the season on Sunday, following a 21-0 loss to the Padres (football is back!).

One year after the White Sox had the worst regular season in modern history, the Rockies have been doing things even worse.

They may just get away with it because they play on the West Coast in one of the best divisions in the sport at a beautiful ballpark that sells out every game, but this has been one of the most moribund organizations in sports for quite some time. 

Dick Monfort has said things as egregious as “I don’t 100% agree with what the Padres are doing” in response to them, uh, spending money and acquiring star talent? In 2023, he also said, “We think we can win .500 ball!” Come out to see an 81-win team, kids (who then went on to win 53). 

There’s also the reality that until the Bud Black move, they’ve never done anything new or exciting to try and work around the reality of working around their disadvantage that COULD be an advantage by playing at a ballpark on the moon where the ball will permanently fly. Since 2020, they’re 295-452, and the current highest-paid players are Kris Bryant (he’s played 170 games in 4 years), Kyle Freeland (0-5 with an ERA over 6), Ryan McMahon (.192 BA), and Antonio Senzatela (1-6 with an ERA over 5). They are still actively paying Nolan Arenado to play for the Cardinals! Bryant was the one name they put on a billboard, and they haven’t attempted to fix the problem at all, because the reality is that ANYONE would love to go watch a baseball game and buy a beverage at beautiful Coors Field in the summertime, win or lose, so ownership has nothing to lose.

Denver is still a fantastic sports town, and the Rockies fans didn’t do anything to deserve this consistent hellscape they’ve been in, but you’ve got to start feeling like something has to give in terms of how hopeless you are in a salary-cap-less sport.

They’re accompanied by some other teams that have recently been scraping at the bottom of the barrel for reasons to care, so let’s take a look at how hopeless they are with a select few categories:

• Desirable Location

• Division Outlook

• Ownership

• Fan Engagement

• The “Do I Trust You” Factor

We’ll grade them each out of 10, 10 having the most hope for a potential turnaround, and the highest score means there’s some path for a turnaround.

Colorado is a:

• Desirable Location: 9/10
• Division Outlook: 1/10
• Ownership: 2:/10
• Fan Engagement: 8/10
• The “Do I Trust You” Factor: 2/10
• TOTAL: 22/50

Miami Marlins

• Desirable Location: 10/10
• Division Outlook: 3/10
• Ownership: 4/10
• Fan Engagement: 4/10
• The “Do I Trust You” Factor: 8/10
• TOTAL: 39/50

Much like the Dolphins and the Hurricanes that have fumbled the bag in terms of having a location that is easy to get to the packs a punch of a crowd, the Marlins being a team based in Miami, that is so rich in culture, full of Latin influence that would be highly appealing to International players and free agents, and to have as little organizational success as they do is kind of criminal. Derek Jeter even stepped away from operations as they just weren’t focused on winning. Nick Castellanos even previously said in an interview that he would have loved to have played in a place like Miami, but they weren’t willing to spend and focus on winning; they should have their Latin instruments creating a raucous, sold-out environment for a winning team in vibrant colors every night. Instead, they’re consistently at the bottom of a loaded division with competent franchises, they have to rebrand to create engagement (when we really just want the original teal), and Marlins Man is the only notable fan by showing up to other events. Here are some notable players that have at one point played for the Marlins that have been dealt since 2017: Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, Luis Arraez, Pablo Lopez, Jazz Chisholm Jr., JT Realmuto, Starling Marte, Zac Gallen.

That being said, there is still a pathway to success here! They’ve won 2 World Series, they consistently trade players and then develop pitching talent as the fish with arms, and made the NL Wild Card game just two years ago! What will get people to care will be investing and KEEPING a core that they look to be developing now after years of misery, and their talent evaluation on guys on this team, such as Kyle Stowers, Agustin Ramirez, and Max Meyer, with some depth added in free agency, can turn it around.

Los Angeles Angels

• Desirable Location: 6/10
• Division Outlook: 7/10
• Ownership: 2/10
• Fan Engagement: 6/10
• The “Do I Trust You” Factor: 1/10
• TOTAL: 21/50

For a team that saw 0 postseason baseball games with both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on it at one point, it’s pretty bleak. The fanbase had a strong following even before the superstars, consistently ranking top 10 in attendance (it’s Southern California baseball!), but if you’re a free agent with the opportunity to play in LA, you’re just inclined to pick the Dodgers, right?

The problem with the Angels is that they’ve been incompetent even in the event of trying to win under Arte Moreno’s ownership; they have the least amount of revenue invested in the scouting department, which is why when everyone was crying, “please get Ohtani and Trout some pitching help!” and they drafted ONLY pitchers through 20 rounds in 2021 only to have ZERO of them on the active roster, we have some pause in our trust. The Angels go through spurts of “can they actually make some noise in the AL West?” year after year before flaming out (we had the Kyren Paris week this year!) and Mike Trout is too big of a man to request a trade even with his years of losing and his prime behind him. Still, there needs to be a massive culture change, and it starts with Arte Moreno investing in better baseball minds with farm systems that don’t rank bottom-5 for once.

Pittsburgh Pirates

• Desirable Location: 6/10
• Division Outlook: 8/10
• Ownership: 1/10
• Fan Engagement: 10/10
• The “Do I Trust You” Factor: 4/10
• TOTAL: 29/50

PHOTO: Brad Penner/Imagn Images

This isn’t new at all: MLB still having PNC Park rated in its “Top 3 Ballparks!” list or something with a shot of PNC’s iconic bridges at the top, meanwhile all of the dedicated fans that rock the black and gold in a diehard sports town that have witnessed consistent, year-after-year success in the Steelers and Penguins are chanting calling for Bob Nutting to sell the team outside of it. It’s been going on for years, and Paul Skenes, probably a top 3 superstar in the league on a rookie contract, has openly said that the fans deserve better. We’ve seen Pittsburgh in the postseason with the iconic “CUETO” chants as one of the best environments in baseball. Yet, one of the most profitable teams in baseball has an ownership group that operates like a Triple-A group.

Coming off of Paul Skenes winning Rookie of the Year and starting the All-Star Game (no, they don’t get credit for taking the consensus best player!), they decided that the only offensive firepower they were going to add was Tommy Pham despite being in a very muddy NL Central, but it’s not just this year that’s so frustrating- it’s that there’s a history. The largest free agent they’ve ever signed was Francisco Liriano in 2015 at $39 million. Steve Cohen, owner of the Mets, has spent more in 4 years than the Pirates, Marlins, and Rays combined over the last 21 YEARS. It’s a different sport, but the Pirates aren’t doing anything about it to get better necessarily, and have ignored all protests ranging from a fan group called “Our Team, Not His,” flying “Sell the Team, Bob” banners over the Stadium to everything in between.

Sure, you can fire a manager and hope it gets better with him as the fall guy. Still, when players routinely leave the organization and get better when they’re not making an effort with one winning season over the last decade, it’s no wonder we’re already making hypotheticals on where Paul Skenes will sign. If Nutting sells the team to someone who cares about BASEBALL, that person or ownership group is sitting on a gold mine.

Chicago White Sox

• Desirable Location: 8/10
• Division Outlook: 7/10
• Ownership: 3/10
• Fan Engagement: 8/10
• The “Do I Trust You” Factor: 4/10
• TOTAL: 30/50

Maybe we should start trusting the White Sox now that they’ve been christened with a Pope that is a Southside superfan?

Yes, the White Sox set the modern record for losses in a season last year as owner Jerry Reinsdorf hung the banner for another Chicago Bulls play-in appearance in the NBA and gave them City Connect jerseys and promoted nothing but the campfire shakes all last season. No, I don’t care about winning with this team, kids, but please come try our delicious and affordable concessions at Rate Field! However, a large reason last season felt more amplified than the Rockies do this season comes from a variety of reasons. 

One, they’re a team with fans who care- White Sox fan meltdowns were undoubtedly a thing last year in the Central Time Zone, therefore making it more amplified. There’s a history there, and they clearly care deeply about the team in ways that define “fan” from “fanatic.”

Secondly, they went on terrible losing streaks instead of the Rockies getting a random victory out of nowhere, adding to how bad it looked in hindsight.

That being said, we’re not too far removed from Chicago making the postseason in 2020 and 2021 and being a preseason “could they win the AL pennant?” conversation in 2022!

They’re one of the 5 teams under the $100 million payroll budget and have the capacity to be good; it’s merely that Reinsdorf doesn’t want to, similarly to the Pirates. They suddenly have a top 10 farm system again from trading away big-time stars that have come and gone from that golden age of the early 2020s, so the Will Venable era at least will have that going for them if the largest contract they’ll have ever given will remain Andrew Benintendi.

If nothing else, the fans can find some solace in the excellent shakes.

PHOTO: Brad Penner/Imagn Images