Only One MLB Team Has Never Lost 100 Games After Colorado Rockies Hit Century Mark For First Time

It may come as a surprise, but the Colorado Rockies had been one of just two MLB organizations to never lose 100 games in a season.

But on Tuesday night, that impressive streak quickly came to an unceremonious end and cemented the Angels as the only team never to achieve that ignominious distinction.

The Rockies lost the second game of a doubleheader to the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-2 to fall to 57-100 and ensure the worst season in franchise history. And given the relentless ability of Rockies' ownership to make player personnel mistakes, that's a remarkable achievement.

As with any systemic failure, there's a lot of blame to go around, but it starts with team ownership, the front office, and their insistence on downplaying modern evaluation methods in favor of old school thinking.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - AUGUST 22: Daniel Bard #52 of the Colorado Rockies reacts after giving up a grand slam home run to Osleivis Basabe of the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth inning at Tropicana Field on August 22, 2023 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Colorado Rockies Mistakes Compound, With Little Help Coming

The Rockies have famously struggled to develop and acquire consistent starting rotation help. And while that's understandable given their home park and elevation, they haven't helped themselves with inefficient spending.

While not exactly a small market, Colorado's location has led to limited budgets compared to say, the Yankees or Dodgers. That makes it all the more important to spend money wisely and know where the holes are that need to be filled.

Instead, the Rockies chose to spend $9.5 million per year on 38-year-old Daniel Bard, who while a fantastic story, has struggled with command problems. Not to mention that as a reliever on a team with no realistic path to winning the division, it's the least necessary position to spend money.

They also signed Kyle Freeland to a $64 million contract before the 2022 season, despite putting up just 2.6 WAR combined from 2019-2021. Antonio Senzatela got $50.5 million and Ryan McMahon got $70 million despite never achieving star level production.

And then there's the Nolan Arenado trade, in which the Rockies ate tons of money to trade away their best homegrown player, only to receive Austin Gomber back as the centerpiece. Then sign Kris Bryant to a huge contract despite his best seasons coming in 2016 and 2017.

With the 19th ranked farm system, according to MLB Pipeline, it's not going to get much better anytime soon.

The Rockies 100 loss season is the result of extremely expensive mistakes, poor decision making, misplaced priorities, injuries and poor performance. In short, it's what we've come to expect in Denver.

At least they're not the 109-loss Oakland A's.