Rockies Fire Bud Black Hoping To Rearrange The Chairs And Light A Fire

The Colorado Rockies are off to a historically bad start. Last year we witnessed the Chicago White Sox break the modern day record with 121 losses. And it took them winning five of their last six to be only that bad. But the Rockies are determined to be even worse this year. On Sunday, in an attempt to move some deck chairs around, they fired their manager Bud Black, who was in his ninth year of service with the club.

After 40 games, the Rockies have a record of 7-33; and are currently on pace to win just 28 games, which means they are on pace to lose 134. Historically bad!

By no means was Bud Black wholly responsible for this team’s demise, but he also wasn’t the answer to get them going in the right direction. In those eight-plus years, his overall record was 540-690, which means he won about 71 games per season. But, as former mentee Dave Roberts told the Los Angeles Times: “I don’t think Casey Stengel could change the outcome of that ballclub.”

Colorado’s front office did very little to help Black field a competitive team. Their starting pitching ERA is close to 7.00 – that is not on Bud Black. The team has one of the highest strike out rates in Major League Baseball. And their defensive efficiency is, well, inefficient, insofar as they have given up 26 unearned runs this year, the most in baseball.

Last week Colorado was swept in a double-header for the second time this year. But this one had them outscored 21-3. The Rockies current record puts them one game up on the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the worst record through the first 40 games. And recall that ‘88 O’s lost their first 21 games. When the team lost a game to the San Diego Padres 21-0, it was the final straw.

In March of 2022, Colorado signed Kris Bryant to a seven-year, $182 million contract, and since then he has played only 170 games for the team, coming to the plate 712 times. His slash line in with the Rockies is .244/.324/.370, with 17 home runs. Last week Bryant underwent surgery to alleviate chronic back pain. There is no timetable for his return. There is talk that his career could be in jeopardy. None of that is Bud Black’s fault.

Prior to his termination, Black was one of the longest tenured managers in baseball. His firing comes after the team dismissed hitting coach Hensley Meulens back in April. If the hope that a new voice would light a fire under one of the worst offenses in the sport, then why did they hire 67-year old, former manager, Clint Hurdle? Rudderless would be a good description of an organization that doesn’t seem to be moving in any positive direction.

Since 2022, Coors Field has held the highest Park Factor according to Statcast, making it the best offensive environment in all of baseball. It’s spacious outfield allows for double and triples, and the thin air provides tape-measure home runs. And yet, the Rockies cannot hit. As of this writing, their team slash line is .219/.285/.359, ranking them 29th in Major League Baseball, just ahead of the White Sox. Their lineup looks and sounds like a Triple-A squad, and one certainly not ready for primetime. They have two players (Jordan Beck and Hunter Goodman) with an OPS above .800; two (Ryan McMahon and Mickey Moniak) above .700; and the rest are below that. (Note: The MLB average is .708.)

The days of the Blake Street Bombers are long over. But so too are the days of Matt Holliday and Charlie Blackmon and Troy Tulowitzki. The current team doesn’t even really have any prospects for the fans to get behind. The beleaguered Sacramento/Las Vegas-to-be Athletics at least have Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson and Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker, and then Nick Kurtz and Max Muncy on the way for the faithful to root for and put their hopes and dreams into. Not so the Rocks. Colorado’s minor league system is ranked #18 by MLB.com (the White Sox at least are #6), and The Athletic has them at #23. If it were not for Gold Glove winners Brenton Doyle (CF) and Ezequiel Tovar (SS), there may not be any players to root for. Top pitching prospect Chase Dollander is still getting his feet wet and his head handed to him (6.88 ERA in seven games).

Dick Monfort, who has owned the team since 2005, placed his son, Sterling, in the role of Professional Scouting Operations Director. In 2022, the team “revamped” its research and development department, making a slew of new hires. But, it seems to be much too little, much too late. Especially when you consider that the vast majority of the front office has been ensconsed since the early to mid-90s. The team hasn’t finished above .500 since 2018. They have the league’s worst record since 2019.

On the Baseball Bar-B-Cast podcast last week, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman interviewed Ryan Spilborghs, a former Rockie, to get a little additional insight on the club. Spilborghs suggested that the Rockies do what the Cardinals did with Chaim Bloom – bring in and outside third party to do a complete audit of the organization. He reminded the hosts that Thad Levine is no longer with the Twins and spent six years in Colorado; and he tossed out the Astros’ former head of baseball operations, the disgraced Jeff Luhnow, to take the team apart and try to put it back together again – this time as a winner.

Drastic times call for drastic measures. The Rockies play in the toughest division in the sport. If they have any designs on making the post-season (forget trying to win the National League West) in the near future, they will have to change course, and do so quickly. Because, for now, they are headed in the wrong direction. Fans may continue to trek to the beautiful confines of Coors Field (they average more than 25,000 tickets sold per home game) and drink microbrews and stare out at the mountains, but they won’t be happy about it, and free agents won’t come, and then the Rockies just might find themselves in a dessert of less than mediocrity from which there is no escape.