On Monday, the Colorado Rockies introduced former Padres skipper Bud Black as the seventh manager in franchise history. The former National League Manager of the Year spent nine seasons in San Diego, with an overall record of 649-713.

Over the last few offseasons, Black has been one of the most highly coveted managerial candidates in baseball, and he brings plenty of experience to a young, up-and-coming Rockies clubhouse.

Following the introductory press conference, Black’s new boss, owner Dick Monfort, spoke with Mile High Sports Radio’s Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of Afternoon Drive about the exciting future of the Colorado Rockies.

“I think the buzz is pretty good about our talent, especially the pitching,” Monfort said. “I think some of these pitchers have really broken through and had some great outings, and I think people are pretty pumped about that.”

The truth is that the Colorado Rockies are “closer” than they’ve been in a long time. Offensively, they’re just as dangerous as ever, as they were second in all of baseball in runs batted in and average. More importantly, as Monfort noted, there’s finally some talent to be excited about on the mound.

Between Jon Gray, Tyler Anderson and Jeff Hoffman, the Rockies have three young pitchers to build around, and that’s without even talking about Chad Bettis and Tyler Chatwood, who each broke out in 2016.

For the first time in years — possibly ever — it’s possible to envision the Rockies trotting out a top-of-the-line rotation in the near future.

The issue, though, remains in the bullpen, where Colorado’s 5.13 ERA was dead last in all of baseball; their 28 blown saves were third most.

Will Bud Black be able to turn that around? He certainly has the expertise, but it’ll be a tough task, nonetheless.

Listen to the full interview with Rockies owner Dick Monfort in the podcast below.

https://soundcloud.com/milehighsports/11-5-16-rockies-owner-dick-monfort-in-an-exclusive-interview-talking-about-the-future-of-the-team?in=milehighsports/sets/afternoon-drive

Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro Monday-Friday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.