1:05 p.m.: Bard’s contract will guarantee him “about $19 million,” Feinsand tweeted.
12:52 pm: The Rockies and closer Daniel Bard are finalizing a contract extension, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com ( Twitter link ). For his part, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Rockies have already reached an agreement on a two-year extension for Bard, a client of ISE Baseball (Twitter links).
All indications over the summer have been that the Rockies are not interested in trading the 37-year-old Bard, and rather hoped to keep him beyond the current season. Now they seem to have achieved that goal.
On paper, Bard seemed like the optimal candidate: a 37-year-old reliever on an expiring contract and in the midst of a dominant season for a last-place team. The Rockies, however, march to the beat of their own drum perhaps more than any team in the sport and have made a habit of holding on to mainstream trade candidates, even if it means losing key players for nothing, as they did in the ‘last summer when they came down. to trade Jon Gray and surprisingly chose not to make him a qualifying offer.
Rockies owner Dick Monfort has been vocal about his belief that the team has the makings of a winning club, even if results on the field have overwhelmingly suggested otherwise in recent seasons. General manager Bill Schmidt, who was elevated from scouting director to GM chairman last year after GM Jeff Bridich was fired, made it clear to Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette earlier this month who didn’t figure to be a major seller at this year’s deadline because the organization believes in the talent on the roster. Manager Bud Black has echoed similar sentiments in recent days, rhetorically questioning why the team would trade a “Range Rover” (Bard) for a “Honda Accord” (presumably a package of minor league prospects) .
While it’s certainly fair to question the inherently risky decision to extend a 37-year-old reliever, it’s also easy to see how the Rockies fell in love with Bard in the ninth inning. Just making it back to the Majors after a seven-year absence would have been a nice story on its own, but Bard not only engineered one of the most improbable comebacks in recent memory, but has quickly risen through the ranks of the elite in the MLB.
A late-season slump pushed Bard’s 2021 ERA to 5.21 after the trade deadline, but he’s been an absolute powerhouse in Black’s bullpen this year, posting a 1.91 ERA with a 27.6% strikeout rate and a 53.8% ground ball rate. Bard’s 12.2% walk rate is notably higher than the league average mark of 9.1% among relievers, but his penchant for groundouts and inducing contact is generally weak (average exit velocity of 87.2 mph) has helped him mitigate any damage that could sometimes arise from erratic control. Bard also averages 98.1 mph on a leadoff that can reach triple digits and make hitters look downright stupid at times.
Relievers are volatile, as Bard himself has shown with his 2021 and 2022 results, so there’s a lot of risk this deal could turn out badly for the Rockies. The current version of Bard, however, is as good a reliever as you’ll find anywhere in the league, and the Rockies are clearly confident in his ability to maintain that production even as he approaches his 40th birthday.
From a payroll standpoint, Bard will add another notable salary cap to a 2023 roster that could set a new franchise record for payroll before the front office makes a single roster move. The Rox already had $110 million on the books for next year, and that was before factoring in Bard’s new extension and an $18 million player option that Charlie Blackmon will likely exercise. Colorado also owes arbitration raises to each of Robert Stephenson, Garrett Hampson, Tyler Kinley, Peter Lambert, Austin Gomber and Brendan Rodgers. All of this should push the team to the right or past the current franchise record mark of $145 million. More additions this winter could send the Rockies into entirely new payroll territory.
The Rockies will get, and judging by the reaction on social media already have, plenty of criticism for their commitment to retaining a core of players that has produced just a .445 hitting percentage since the 2019 season. And while the team’s resistance to rebuilding and firm belief that the elements of a contender are present can be questioned, it’s also somewhat refreshing to see a club continue to try to build a winning club instead of tilting- se in the type of ardua. multi-year reconstructions that have proliferated the sport in recent years. Even if this group never breaks open and emerges as a true postseason contender in future seasons, the Rockies are at least trying, and that’s more than several teams can say every season.