The Rockies announced that franchise legend Todd Helton has been hired as a special assistant to GM Bill Schmidt. According to Danielle Allentuck of The Denver Gazette, Helton’s primary responsibility will be working with minor league players, and Allentuck notes that Helton has already been working with prospect Michael Toglia (Colorado’s first-round pick from 2019) during spring training.
Helton spent all 17 of his MLB seasons with the Rockies, and he is the team’s all-time leader in multiple major categories, including games, plate appearances, home runs, runs, hits, doubles, RBI, walks, total bases and bWAR. The first baseman hit .316/.414/.539 with 369 homers over his 9,453 big league PA, with a resume that includes five All-Star appearances, four Silver Slugger awards and three Gold Gloves. It seems as though Helton will one day be wearing a Colorado cap into Cooperstown, as his vote total has been steadily climbing through four years on the writers’ ballot — Helton received 52% of the vote this past winter, up from 44.9% in 2021, 29.2% in 2020 and 16.5% in 2019.
Special assistant duties tend to vary greatly from person to person and from team to team, with the responsibilities generally tailored toward the specialties of the individual. In Helton’s case, he “will essentially be a roaming coach,” Allentuck writes, as Helton had expressed an interest in taking on more of a role with his old organization.
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