The Cleveland Indians’ remarkable journey to the World Series seems almost forgotten now, wiped out by an extra-inning loss to the Cubs in Game 7.

But you can bet that executives around baseball paid close attention to an Indians team that ranked 24th in payroll on opening day but went on to win 94 games, captured the American League Central title by eight games and cruised through the playoffs until they ran into the Cubs.

I sure hope Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich and owner Dick Monfort had their eyes open wide enough to see how the Indians succeeded, because there was much to learn.

Start with Terry Francona, who was hired as Cleveland’s manager in 2013 and steered his team with intelligence, gut feelings, excellent in-game strategy and a genuine love for his players.

The Rockies have yet to divulge who their next manager will be, but I hope they pick a strong man with an independent streak. He simply can’t be a puppet for the front office, because the players will see right through that and won’t respect the man filling out the daily lineup card.

If the Rockies want a manager like Bud Black or Indians bench coach Brad Mills, they are going to have to pay a lot more than the $750,000 annual salary they were paying Walt Weiss.

Bridich has shown the willingness to make bold moves (think of the Troy Tulowitzki trade), and that must continue, because the Rockies’ window of opportunity won’t stay open for long. At the trade deadline, the Indians acquired reliever 6-foot-7 left-hander Andrew Miller to shore up their bullpen. The Indians paid a steep price, sending four prospects to the Yankees: outfielder Clint Frazier and three young pitchers. But it was worth it as Miller turned out to be to best trade-deadline deal of the year.

Bridich and his staff have to do a better job judging free-agent talent. The off-season signings last winter of right-handed relievers Jason Motte and Chad Qualls, along with outfielder Gerardo Parra, did not pan out. The Rockies doled out more than $17 million to the trio and got little in return.

The Indians, like the Rockies, are not huge spenders in free agency. But the moves they did make were shrewd and successful. Cleveland scooped up outfielder Rajai Davis with a one-year contract worth $5.25 million and he rewarded them by leading the American League with 43 steals.

Two years ago the Indians signed righty reliever Jeff Manship off the scrap heap after the Phillies discarded him following a bad 2014 season. The Indians signed him to a minor-league contract and he has produced a 2.07 ERA in 85 games of relief since then.

Then, of course, there was the signing of first baseman Mike Napoli to a one-year, $7 million deal last January. That move paid huge dividends. He hit 34 home runs, drove in 101 runs and was a great fit in the clubhouse.

Finally, we all know that the Rockies’ weakest link is their bullpen. The Rockies need to build a bullpen that is deeper, more talented and more flexible. Obviously, during the regular season, a team can’t use a bullpen the way Francona used his during the playoffs. It simply isn’t feasible to rely that heavily on relievers during a 162-game season.

Still, Francona hit on a very workable formula. Often times he used Miller in the sixth, seventh or eighth innings, the idea being that he wanted to match his best reliever against the opposition’s best hitter. The key, of course, was that the Indians had enough talent and depth to be flexible. Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw and Dan Otero were all reliable relievers in tough situations.

If the Rockies can figure out some of the things the Indians did in 2016, playoffs are a realistic goal next year.