Strike 2: Attention disgruntled baseball fans – and several notable media members – around the region: There are two things you need to understand while you (justifiably) rip into the Colorado Rockies for their historically miserable start to the season.
First, please stop yelling for ownership to “SELL THE TEAM!” That. Is. Not. Ever. Going. To. Happen.
EVER.
The Colorado Rockies are not and will not ever be for sale. No amount of losing on the field is ever going to force owner Dick Monfort to alter his long-term plan. He’s currently running a succe$$ful busine$$, just like his father did back in the days of the Monfort Meat Packing business. Dick worked his way up the ladder of that family business before taking it over. By all accounts, the employees there were happy too.
Today the Rockies are the Monfort’s family business. Sons Sterling and Walker are working their way up the ladder, on both the business side and the baseball side. And the employees at 20th and Blake are pretty secure as well.
Business is good. And with two sons being groomed to take things over, why on earth would the Monforts want to sell the team?
Common sense, anyone?
You want something to scream and hope for? Hope that Sterling and Walker have ideas of their own that can help turn the team in the right direction ON the field. That’s entirely feasible. We’ll see.
Second point: The minority of observers who want to fire manager Bud Black are clueless. Completely and utterly clueless.
Bud is a top shelf big league manager. There is no one out there any better suited for the job.
Any manager can be only as good as what he’s given to work with. Ask yourself this question: How great would Nuggets coach Michael Malone look right now if his starting five was Jay Huff, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, Christian Braun and Julian Strawther? Nuggets fans might see a bright future, but today would be pretty bleak. And the future would be no sure thing, either.
That’s precisely where Black sits today. The future may or may not be significantly better, but the future is what the franchise is counting on. Meanwhile, the guy in charge of today’s lineup has to field a team full of unproven youngsters every day and hope for the best.
Not a recipe for immediate success.
And let’s not forget, Bud did have immediate success when he arrived prior to the 2017 season when the Rockies still had Nolan Arenado, D.J. LeMahieu, Trevor Story and some reliable pitching. Two straight playoff appearances to start his Rockies tenure.
And it’s not like Bud has suddenly forgotten how to run a successful team.
Any time people call for a coach or manager to be fired, they ought to think about what happens next. Who would possibly replace Bud Black – and do a better job – if he were to be fired? Face it, not even all-time greats like Bruce Bochy or Joe Maddon or anyone else who’s currently available could take this current Rockies roster and turn around the losing record. No one.
Only Father Time can help improve this Rockies team.
Frustrated and need someone to blame? Sorry, but Jeff Bridich was already fired a few years back, remember?
