Warren Schaeffer had a whirlwind 2025 season.
He began as the Rockies’ third base coach but after 40 games, manager Bud Black was fired and Schaeffer was given the reins. With 122 games remaining in the season, he not only had to prove himself as someone who was capable of being a big league manager, but also was in charge of preventing the Rockies from making some dubious history while simultaneously keeping things from getting too dark inside the clubhouse.
And he obviously did a solid job, as he was hired by incoming PBO Paul DePodesta as the full-time manager in November — DePodesta’s first hire after taking the job.
“I said that my opening press conference a couple weeks ago that I thought the most important job manager has was to be a great relationship manager,” DePodesta said at the time, “and I think Warren absolutely embodies that, not only from my interactions with them, but all the feedback I’ve gotten from from players, from staff, from front office, other coaches, etc.
“[And] not only is he a connector, but he mentioned the importance he places on collaboration,” DePodesta continued. “I think he’s a great teammate and partner — not only with the front office, but also with his coaches. I think he’s very open minded. He clearly works extremely hard and has a really high care factor both for the Rockies in particular, but also just for sort of the job at hand. There’s a great respect for for the game, and a great respect for the organization.”
Fast forward to February 2026, and Schaeffer was in charge of his first spring training.
The Rockies implemented numerous new changes in ‘Camp Schaeffer,’ including later start times and Skill Development Hour. Additionally, they added more informal communication times between players and coaches.
“We’re having these coaches meetings in the morning — ‘Coffee with the Coaches’ it’s called,” said Viktor Vodnik. “We sit down talk, have some coffee, and just talk baseball, pick each other’s brains on how to get better. What do we think on the mound in certain situations and certain pitches, certain counts, how to stay ahead, how to attack, how to make adjustments, and talking to catchers, too.”
But overall, it seems appears spring training was a success for the Rockies.
“I think the new coaches have been put in a spotlight to succeed, and the relationships that they have built with our new players has been a really, really great starting point,” Schaeffer said of his first camp as manager. “I believe the initial introduction of our new atmosphere and culture has gone really well.”
But, as Schaeffer acknowleged, this is just the beginning of a long season.
“Now, that has to be pushed forward as we keep going and as we go through ups and downs in the season, it will be tested. But I think the things we could accomplish in spring training, in that regard, were accomplished.
“Everything’s clear and concise,” he continued. “There’s really no ambiguity with what we’re trying to do around here. It’s pretty straightforward, and that’s good because sometimes that’s not really the case. I feel like the communication channels that we’ve set up have been really good.”
For Schaeffer, that is consistent with what’s happening throughout the organization.
“I feel like one of the biggest things organizationally – starting with Walker [Monfort] to Paul [DePodesta] to [Josh Byrnes] to myself, to the rest of them, to Chris Forbes and to the rest of the minor leagues – has really begun to become one unit, which is what we want, to the point where when coaches are coaching in the minor leagues and they say, ‘We do this. We’re going to do this fundamental this way.’ And the big leagues are doing it like this, but we’re going to do it like this now, to the point where it’s ‘We are doing this’ and there’s no more to that sentence. It’s that we’re all in this top to bottom, and that’s really been on the right path that takes intentionality.”
Schaeffer is known for his culture building, and he took the spring to set that culture. Here are the words used by players to describe ‘Camp Schaeffer’
But Schaeffer is most hoping players take away “their purpose in a baseball uniform” and “that individual development is never over.”
He wants players to understand they are appreciated.
Most importantly, though, Schaeffer said, “[T]here are a lot of people in this building that care about them and want to get the most out of them — that we spend hours and hours and hours thinking about how to get the most out of those guys, and that we can win.”
Last year, the Rockies finished 43-119. While it wasn’t 2024 White Sox bad, it was too close for comfort. But what would a successful season look like for Schaeffer?
“I think it’s a very subjective word, but we have to realize where we’ve come from and see a lot of progress in a lot of different areas,” he said. “We do that, and I think the wins will come off of that with all this success.
“With progress and a devotion to the process – a clear and absolute devotion to the process – you will see progress, and with that you’ll see wins.”
For the Rockies: “Two rookies look like they’re ready” (those two rookies being TJ Rumfield and Kyle Karros).
We’ve chronicled Schaeffer’s hiring at length, but for the first time (that I’ve seen), Walker Monfort sheds light on why he felt Schaeffer was the right man for this job.
For a fun one, the 9-9-9 challenge (consuming nine hot dogs and nine beers in nine innings) will be featured in six stadiums in 2026. One of those stadiums? Coors Field. Would you try it?
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