Strike 1: What does the Ryan McMahon trade mean for the immediate future of the Colorado Rockies? It’s not exactly what you think. The two young pitchers that the team acquired from the New York Yankees in the deal might help in the future, but not this season or next.
What it really means is not great news for interim manager Warren Schaeffer. Trading McMahon could mean that an organization that has been change-aversive might actually be ready to make impactful changes.
As everyone who follows the Rockies even a little bit knows, Schaeffer was handed the reins when Bud Black was fired on May 11. It’s the 40-year-old Schaeffer’s first big league manager job, and it likely won’t be his last. He’s young, energetic and has been considered a very good instructor. While most managers spend pregame batting and fielding practice observing while other members of the staff put players through the paces, Schaeffer – previously the team’s infield instructor and third base coach – puts himself right in the thick of things. He’ll have a future in the game, regardless of whether or not his team sets any dubious records this season.
But he’s not likely to be the Rockies skipper next season.
Why? Since Rockies history tells us that this club doesn’t make dramatic changes, why would they make one this time?
Think about it. Schaeffer has his current gig because the Rockies did something very un-Rockies like when they fired Black. And that was after they fired hitting coach Hensley Meulens. Those are moves that historically they’ve been unwilling to make. Then, trading one of their longest tenured and most popular remaining players in McMahon shows they’ve begun to show at least some level of willingness to operate more like the other 29 Major League Baseball teams do.
If that’s the case, and the Rockies are planning on say, making a huge change and hiring a president of baseball operations sometime in the not-too-distant future, something that’s critical in order to improve the team’s dismal situation, then it stands to reason that the new decision maker will want his own guy – presumably a veteran – in the dugout.
Other than Clint Hurdle – who is now the team’s bench coach and wise advisor for Schaeffer – the Rockies don’t have internal candidates that are more qualified than the interim guy. It’s very unlikely that the 67-year-old Hurdle would return to the manager’s role, meaning the club would be forced to do something else un-Rockies like and hire someone from outside the organization.
Who that could be is anyone’s guess. Until we know who will be hiring the new manager we’ll have no clue as to who it could be.
One great choice would be former Rays, Cubs and Angels manager Joe Maddon, who would undoubtedly love to come back to the shadow of the Flatirons – he played three seasons of summer baseball in Boulder while in college – and some of his heart still resides here.
Would Maddon be willing to take on a rebuilding job?
Someone is going to have to.
The Rockies have been loath to make changes for the sake of change in the past. But at this point, having made more than a few changes already, Rockies followers can keep their fingers crossed that more positive changes are coming.
