The Colorado Rockies have announced that Executive Vice President and general manager Jeff Bridich has decided to step down from his role. This is huge news as the team struggles in last place in the NL West despite looking good in its last several games. The team released an official statement early Monday afternoon.
Rockies General Manager Jeff Bridich steps down and Greg Feasel has been named Club President. pic.twitter.com/nk3HyHYBu8
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 26, 2021
Bridich Steps Down
There is little doubt that this pushes Colorado in a positive direction. Bridich has managed to alienate almost everyone beyond owner Dick Monfort. Most recently, he signed Nolan Arenado to a huge contract, included an opt-out that wasn’t requested, and then failed to do anything save antagonize the star until a trade was inevitable. Consequently, the trade was lackluster to the point that every major baseball outlet panned the deal. Furthermore, there was very little evidence to suggest that Bridich could execute the proper next steps with pending free agents Trevor Story and Jon Gray either.
Bridich has been widely criticized as a team executive since he assumed the GM role in 2014. He rarely made trades and most of the ones he did make had marginal impacts on the team’s fortunes. Furthermore, he also signed the bullpen trio of Wade Davis, Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee in 2017. The three combined for negative WAR in their three seasons together. There have been very few positive moves during his tenure as a top Rockies executive.
What This Means for the Future
The team has named Jeff Feasel President/Chief Operating Officer in the wake of Bridich’s decision. He will handle baseball operations while the team searches for a suitable replacement for 2022. Feasel has been with the organization for many years and currently oversees the club’s business operations, per the announcement. However, it is impossible to know how this affects the team’s drafting and trade philosophies. The only thing that we can safely say is that this is huge for the Rockies’ immediate future.
“Main Photo”
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, Jon Gray, Wade Davis, Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee, Daniel Murphy
