The Colorado Rockies have hired Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer to be their full-time manager for the 2026 season. Schaeffer became the interim manager for the Rockies following the firing of longtime manager Bud Black. 

Bud Black was the manager for the Colorado Rockies up until shortly before his ninth season began, as he and bench coach Mike Redmond were fired on May 11th, 2025, after his team started the season with a 7-33 record. The first move of the Rockies wasn’t the hire of Warren Schaeffer. The first big move of the off-season was the hire of the new president of baseball operations, Paul DePodesta. DePodesta is coming over from the Cleveland Browns and now looks to turn the Rockies’ organization from a losing team each season into a winning one.  

DePodesta’s first significant hire of the off-season was to remove the interim tag from Schaeffer and officially name him the full-time manager for the 2026 season. After Schaeffer took over as the manager of the Rockies following the firing of Bud Black, he finished the season with a 36-86 record. Schaeffer and the rest of the Rockies organization will look to improve on their 2025 record. It is important to note that the Rockies have one of the lowest payrolls in Major League Baseball. 

To put things into perspective, the Rockies’ payroll during the 2025 season ranked 21st among MLB teams, according to USA Today, at $120,693,976. This upcoming 2026 season, the Rockies’ payroll is projected at $65,214,285, according to Spotrac. The payroll could change over the next few months before the regular season begins at the end of March.