DENVER (AP) — Two months ago, the Colorado Rockies assembled more than 300 of their scouts, coaches, business personnel and new baseball minds for a meeting at Coors Field.

First order of business: An introduction.

The main item: Getting everyone on the same page. Because turning around a franchise that has lost 100 or more games in three straight seasons (including 119 in 2025) doesn't happen overnight.

Before change can occur, a front office now led by Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes wanted to identify specific traits that would come to embody the Rockies. That way, there would be a consistent message emanating from the major league level all the way through the minors. The Rockies are developing a blueprint from an exchange of ideas that took place in January — and before — with their baseball staff, some of whom journeyed in from the Dominican Republic.

“I would say the bones of it are already in place,” said DePodesta, the recently hired president of baseball operations.

Any sneak peeks?

“Probably not ready,” DePodesta said with a smile. “But I’m really excited about everybody’s reaction to it so far. It’s more about, ‘Hey, how are we going to work together? What is our pitching staff going to look like, not just at the big league level, but throughout? What do we like about hitters? How do all those things tie together?’"

It's at least a step in a direction, any direction, and not just status quo for a Rockies team that hasn't been to the playoffs since 2018. It's part of a promise made to Colorado fans last season by team president Walker Monfort, the son of owner Dick Monfort.

Hence, new leadership, a unified approach and enhanced reliance on analytics.

“They’re all very curious people. They want to find solutions," Walker Monfort said of a front office brought in from the football/analytics world (DePodesta was with the Cleveland Browns) and a World Series-winning culture (Byrnes spent a decade with the Dodgers). “They want to embrace our challenges and figure them out. From that perspective, I couldn’t be more excited.”

Moneyball and DePodesta

Yes, Monfort has seen “Moneyball,” a movie based on the Michael Lewis novel about the 2002 A’s who captured the AL West despite a small payroll.

And of course, Monfort would like nothing more than to see the Rockies be the NL West version of it. Back then, DePodesta was a key figure among a new generation of analytical thinkers who changed the sport. He inspired the Jonah Hill character in the film that starred Brad Pitt as GM Billy Beane.

“Finding value where others are not, that's intriguing," Monfort said.

But taking that to a higher elevation at Coors Field will be an uphill climb. Colorado finished second-to-last in runs scored per game (3.69) in 2025. They were also at the bottom in ERA (5.97) and first in homers allowed (251).

Colorado started addressing some of the pitching needs by bringing in righties Michael Lorenzen and Tomoyuki Sugano, along with lefty Jose Quintana. They plugged holes with versatile infielder Willi Castro and by trading for outfielder Jake McCarthy.

“There’s a lot to the types of players we want,” said Byrnes, who spent the last 11 seasons with the Dodgers as their senior vice president of baseball operations. “And there are going to be preferences and philosophies behind that.

"Obviously, there’s a lot of work to be done."

The road back to be competitive

For now, there are no radical approaches — like a six-man rotation — in the works to solve the pitching issues at Coors Field. What plays well at Coors seems to be high velocity. The Rockies, though, are pushing for expanded pitch repertoires. Lorenzen, for instance, throws seven different pitches.

“Big arsenals are going to be harder to game-plan against,” Rockies pitching coach Alon Leichman explained. “We think that’s an advantage. The more weapons you have, the more random you can be."

The process of change

For now, DePodesta's objective lies with building a solid foundation. They have a young nucleus in All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who helped Venezuela to a World Baseball Classic title. On the horizon, there's Ethan Holliday, the No. 4 pick in the amateur draft last season and son of Rockies great Matt Holliday, who led the team to their only World Series appearance in 2007.

There's no rushing the process, though.

“It’s really trying to understand what the strengths are of the organization to begin with," DePodesta explained, "as opposed to trying to change everything.”

Same sentiment for Byrnes, who worked with DePodesta in Cleveland in the 1990s. The specifics of their plan will factor into how the Rockies think about hitters in the draft, how they coach defense and base running throughout the organization and how they employ analytics with pitching discussions.

“There’s a lot of branches on the tree,” Byrnes said. “The Rockies way is being good at all of that. ... I don’t think there's a short answer.”

The process may be involved, but the end result is rather simple for Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer.

“Winning,” Schaeffer said. “That should be non-negotiable.”

A crowded bench and a 16-point win: The Nuggets finally look whole again

DENVER (AP) — For the first time in four months the Denver Nuggets look like the team their new management team of Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace assembled in the offseason, one featuring a strong starting five and enviable depth.

Peyton Watson returned from a pulled hamstring and a six-week absence Sunday and helped the Nuggets race past the red-hot Portland Trail Blazers 128-112. Watson scored 14 points, pulled down six defensive rebounds and tallied three assists in 20 minutes.

It was the first time since Nov. 12 that the Nuggets (44-28) had their starting rotation and full complement of backups all available.

“It was a great feeling,” Spencer Jones said. “We were hyped walking out there. The only bad thing about it was there wasn't enough room on the bench. You can't really stretch your legs as much as you're used to. But, nah, it's a great feeling to have everybody out there."

All five starters scored in double figures, led by All-Stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray with 22 each. Cam Johnson added 19, Christian Braun had 15 and Aaron Gordon, 12. Reserve Bruce Brown chipped in 13.

The Nuggets were especially hurting when Gordon and Watson were out. Those are two of Denver's best defenders and rim protectors.

"It's a great feeling just seeing P-Wat back, having A.G. back,” Johnson said. "This is who we are. We're deep. We've got guys that can make plays all over the court offensively and defensively. It's exciting to be back to full strength. We've got to stay there.

"We've got, what, 10 games left to make a push, finalize our place in the standings, hopefully jump up and then chase some teams down and then get ready for the playoffs.”

The Nuggets have been hoping to get all their players back on the court together for the final weeks of the regular season, and Watson's long-anticipated return puts them back at full strength, barring another injury in a season that has seen all five starters and several reserves miss significant time.

“It's huge,” Jones said. “This is the first game we've had everybody back since I don't know when. So, we're just figuring out lineups and what we can do, who works well with each other and figuring that out together and building more chemistry as a team and it'll be exciting going into the playoffs.”

Of course, no one was more excited than Watson himself.

"It was super exciting, it was hard for me to sleep last night,” said Watson, who was in the midst of his most productive two months as a pro when he joined the long list of injured Nuggets. "I was anticipating this day for a long time. You never know what to expect with the rehab process. It was really tough for me at times.

“But I'm glad I was able to push through it, I'm glad we got the training staff that we do getting me back to full health, and I'm ready to continue to contribute for us."

Jokic said it took him a good month to get back in rhythm after missing a month with a knee injury and he expects Watson to take some time getting his game back, too.

Watson, however, said he's not that far off, if at all.

Getting injured, he said, "was really frustrating, especially with the groove that I had worked my way into and the basketball that I was playing. But to be honest with you, this whole six weeks feels like a blur at this point; I feel like I'm right back where I was six weeks ago.

“The confidence is there, everything is there."

Watson is looking on the bright side. The spate of injuries all season may have been frustrating, but they allowed other players — including himself — to step up and carve out bigger roles.

“I think you need some adversity to kind of build a team up and that's what this year has been,” Watson said. “And it's forced other guys to step up and play big minutes and have big responsibilities and like D.A. (coach David Adelman) said tonight, there are guys that didn't play a lick tonight that he would trust to play 35 minutes. So, I think that it's a blessing and a curse that we got injured and it'll be better for us in the long run,”