The Colorado Rockies are on track to make the wrong kind of history. Sitting at 4-24, they’re projected for a 25-win season — easily the worst record Major League Baseball has ever seen. This isn’t just a bad year. It’s part of a disturbing trend that’s starting to become a serious black eye for MLB.
A Growing Pattern of MLB Teams Hitting Rock Bottom
Last season, it was the Chicago White Sox (41-121 record in 2024). The year before that, the Athletics (50-112 record in 2023). Now it’s Colorado’s turn to stumble toward a 120-loss pace. This is no longer about isolated front-office failures — it’s about a systemic issue.
When a team becomes this uncompetitive, the entire league suffers. Fans lose interest, players lose hope, and baseball’s broader credibility suffers.
The Rockies’ failure isn’t random, either. Years of poor drafting, questionable contracts, and a middling farm system have finally caught up. Despite the hitter-friendly atmosphere of Coors Field, Colorado ranks dead last in adjusted OPS. Their pitching — always a challenge at altitude — leaks runs at a historic rate. Defense? Statistically, it’s the worst in baseball.
Should MLB Consider Relegation to Stop Tanking?
In European soccer, relegation ensures that clubs that finish at the bottom are demoted to a lower league. It’s brutal, but it forces accountability. There is no coasting, no multi-year rebuild excuses.
Imagine if MLB adopted a similar system. Teams like the Colorado Rockies, the Athletics, and Chicago White Sox would face real consequences beyond bad headlines.
Realistically, American sports aren’t built for promotion and relegation — there’s no second division ready to step up. But the concept deserves serious thought. A future MLB model could feature a second-tier competition with promotion/relegation elements. Or perhaps it’s time to introduce heavy financial penalties beyond small revenue-sharing losses.
Either way, MLB needs mechanisms that make losing this badly completely unacceptable.
How MLB Can Fix the Tanking Problem
Rob Manfred and MLB leadership can’t continue to ignore this trend. One historically bad season can be brushed off. But three consecutive years of a team actively tanking? That’s a crisis.
Potential solutions include:
- Minimum payroll floors to ensure competitiveness
- Harsher draft penalties for teams intentionally losing
- Temporary franchise exclusion from competitive revenue pools for extreme tanking
- A modified relegation-lite model involving farm system demotion or market penalties
Markets like Denver, Chicago, and Sacramento (for now) deserve better than front offices mailing it in before May.
Without real consequences for tanking, struggling franchises have little incentive to prioritize immediate improvement. Relegation, or a financial penalty structure tied to record performance, could force ownership groups to invest more aggressively in player development and major league rosters.
If MLB wants to protect its long-term integrity and fan engagement, especially in struggling markets, it must consider structural reforms that discourage perennial losing.
If the Rockies Break the Record, MLB Will Wear the Blame
The Colorado Rockies might stumble into the record books for all the wrong reasons this season. But if it happens, the bigger stain will be on Major League Baseball itself — for allowing this trend to fester unchecked.
Fixing the tanking problem won’t be easy. But doing nothing will only accelerate the decay of fan trust and competitive integrity across the sport.
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Colorado Rockies’ Historic Collapse Signals Time for MLB to Step In