Colorado Rockies interim GM Bill Schmidt hopes to be considered for job after season
DENVER Bill Schmidt went from Colorado Rockies vice president of scouting to interim general manager this week. He will hold that title for the rest of the season and hopefully longer as more than an interim GM. I have aspirations of having the job full time, and hopefully I can do a good enough job that Dick and Greg will give me consideration going forward, Schmidt said Wednesday, referring to owner Dick Monfort and team president Greg Feasel.
Schmidt was made the interim GM on Tuesday to replace Jeff Bridich, who left the team on April 26. Schmidt has plenty of work ahead, and one of the main chores, he said, is getting everyone in the organization on the same page.
It’s a seller’s market again for downtown condos
BusinessDen file)
The lull in downtown Denver’s condo market appears to have ended.
In Denver’s 80202 ZIP code, which encompasses most of downtown, there were 99 active listings and 2.8 months of inventory at the end of April, according to MLS data. Anything under six months is considered to be a seller’s market.
“We anticipated an inventory crunch by the end of summer, but it seemed like it happened overnight when the governor announced his hope for a ‘close to normal Denver’ by the end of summer in March,” said Lori Greenly, founder of Denver-High Rise Living, which specializes in condo sales. “That one message seemed to be our turning point.”
Rockies Name Bill Schmidt As Interim GM
1:41pm CDT
1:41PM: The Rockies have officially announced Schmidt as the new interim GM. As per the team’s press release, “Schmidt will oversee all aspects of the club’s baseball operations,” which would perhaps imply that Feasel will either return his focus to business operations, or simply that Schmidt is the top voice in all baseball-related matters.
1:05PM: Rockies vice-president of scouting Bill Schmidt is expected to be named the club’s interim general manager, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports (Twitter link). After former GM Jeff Bridich resigned last week, there had been speculation that an internal name would take on the interim position, with Schmidt and assistant general managers Zack Rosenthal, Jon Weil, and Zach Wilson all floated as potential candidates to assume the role.
On Monday the Jeff Bridich era officially concluded in Colorado. The abrupt announcement just one month into the season leaves the club with a general manager vacancy to fill in the front office. Darren Gonzalez recently wrote about the new era facing the Rockies and how significant deviation from the previous formula is sorely needed. Greg Feasel has been promoted to the role of President, the first step in the process, but his day-to-day baseball operations experience is not robust. Internal candidates such as director of scouting Bill Schmidt or assistant general managers Zack Rosenthal and Zach Wilson could also be in line for a promotion to interim GM for the remainder of the season. This would appear to be the plan as the team indicated it will pursue hiring a permanent candidate for the position in the upcoming off-season.
When the Rockies announced Jeff Bridich was stepping down as General Manager last Monday, the predominant sentiment expressed by Rockies fandom was hope. Hopeful that the franchise (or owner) was finally ready to pick a clear direction with someone new steering the ship, taking strong actions.
Of course, expectations should be tempered when it comes to Dick Monfort. Since he became chairman and CEO of the club in 2011, Monfort has consistently whiffed on handling the front office. In 2012, he restructured the front office and gave Dan O’Dowd and Bill Geivett confusingly similar roles. After two years of a power struggle, the young Jeff Bridich was chosen as GM. We know how that turned out, but the point I’m making is that it’s up to each fan to believe how much success can be had under Dick Monfort.