DENVER — The Colorado Rockies won't be hiring an external candidate for their open general manager position.
The team announced on Saturday afternoon that interim GM Bill Schmidt has been promoted to the full-time position. Schmidt took over on an interim basis on May 3 after former GM Jeff Bridich resigned in April.
“After five months as our interim general manager, it became increasingly clear that Bill was the right person to lead this franchise forward,” Rockies President and COO Greg Feasel said in a statement. “We already knew Bill as a trusted and respected baseball professional within the game. He came into a challenging situation and quickly impacted the play on and off the field."
In addition to Schmidt's full-time title, the Rockies also announced the promotion of Danny Montgomery to vice president and assistant GM of scouting and the promotion of Zack Rosenthal to vice president and assistant GM of baseball operations and assistant general counsel.
“I am very honored to be named the general manager, and excited to get to work this offseason with Danny, Zack and the rest of our baseball operations team,” Schmidt said in a statement.
“The past five months have been important for our club, and we want our fans to know that, as a group, our baseball operations team is bringing a fresh perspective, approach and energy in these roles. We’re going to work hard to deliver a consistent winning club to our fans.”
Schmidt started with the Rockies in October of 1999 in the scouting department. He was later named the vice president of scouting in 2007 and has more than 30 years of experience, including stints with Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Prior to Schmidt, Bridich had been Colorado's GM since 2014.
Bridich's tenure came with some success, but controversy as well. In February he traded All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado and $51 million in cash to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Austin Gomber and four minor league prospects.
The move was regarded around baseball as not nearly enough compensation for a player of Arenado's caliber, and the relationship between the potential MVP candidate and Bridich was fragile.
"The relationship wasn't always peaches and cream. There were some bumps here and there," Bridich said at the time. "Could I have done a better job in certain areas? You betcha. Absolutely."
The Cardinals are currently 90-70 and will play in the NL Wild Card Game next Wednesday night. The Rockies have two games remaining and sit with a record of 74-85.
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