To tank or not to tank, that is the question.
But it’s never been an option for Rockies owner Dick Monfort.
Following the Friends of Baseball Breakfast in Greeley on Jan. 28, when Monfort made headlines by saying he thought the Rockies could play .500 ball this season, I asked Monfort why he doesn’t like the term “rebuilding.”
“I hate that word,” Monfort said. “I guess the connotation on rebuilding is you just get rid of everybody. You try to draft low, which we’re not (going to do). We’re not trying to get the first pick. We’re not going to tank. We never have, never will.”
When a team tanks, it trades away veteran players, cuts payroll, hits rock bottom, reaps high draft picks, and starts from scratch. Some owners see it as a way to escape the treadmill of mediocrity. The risk, of course, is 100-loss seasons and alienation of the fan base.
Not to mention that tanking violates the spirit of competition. But a lot of teams have tanked, and two of them reaped the ultimate reward.
In 2016, the Cubs captured their long-awaited World Series title just four years after losing 101 games, making them one of the fastest teams to win a title after enduring triple-digit losses.
In 2017, the Astros won it all after losing 100 or more games from 2011-13.
Last spring, Cincinnati waved a white flag. Just three days after the lockout ended on March 10, the Reds traded starter Sonny Gray to the Twins. A day later, the Reds moved All-Star outfielder Jesse Winker and infielder Eugenio Suarez to Seattle. That was just the start of the teardown. The Reds finished 62-100 and averaged 17,447 fans per game, ranking 24th in the majors.
“(Tanking) worked for the Cubs,” Monfort said. “I mean, I think the Cubs really did do that. And the Astros. Kansas City, I don’t know if they were trying to do that or if they were just (bad) for a long period of time.”
Since 2000, the Royals have had just four winning seasons and lost 100 or more games six times. But they put together a great team in 2014-15, going to back-to-back World Series and winning it all in ’15.
But the Royals have bottomed out again and finished last season 65-97.
“The problem is, now Kansas City’s not drawing anybody, right?” Monfort said.
Monfort is correct. Last season, the Royals drew just 15,974 fans per home game.
“If the (Royals) are on a rebuild, this is year eight of it,” he continued. “I don’t see our fans wanting to come to the games and say we’re gonna suck for eight years.”
The new Major League Baseball collective bargaining agreement, signed before last season, established a draft lottery. The change was made to discourage tanking, with the idea being that finishing with one of the worst records will no longer guarantee a high draft pick. As agent Scott Boras put it, “a race to the bottom” is no longer a yearly occurrence.
But last season, the new system didn’t prevent the Reds and the Oakland A’s from scuttling their rosters.
I like that Monfort won’t allow the Rockies to tank. It’s admirable. I’d sure rather cover a team that draws 32,000 fans per game as opposed to a team that draws less than 10,000 like the A’s.
That said, the Rockies, 68-94 last season, need a bolder blueprint than their draft-and-develop plan.
Because if the Rockies don’t tweak their philosophy, they’ll be stuck on the treadmill of sub-mediocrity and at some point, the fans are going to quit showing up.
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