The Rockies have no formal plans to discuss contract extensions for general manager Dan O’Dowd and manager Clint Hurdle, but are prepared to act quickly if they believe their status becomes a distraction because of media coverage, according to owner Dick Monfort.
“There’s no meeting scheduled. We are happy with the way things are going,” Monfort said Friday. “You guys make a lot bigger deal of it than we do or they do.
“One of the problems is that you have to keep the focus on the team. When it’s constantly written that if we are not .500 they could lose their jobs, it can be a distraction, and I think it’s a distraction now. If it starts to (affect the team) we will probably have to deal with it. If we did something, we would probably do both (O’Dowd and Hurdle).”
Last month co-owner Charlie Monfort labeled this a “big year” for O’Dowd and Hurdle and identified 81 wins as his goal.
Dick Monfort clarified ownership’s position Friday regarding O’Dowd and Hurdle, saying their status is not tied directly to a specific victory total this season.
“Of course we would like to win the division and win the World Series, but it’s difficult when you are a mid-market team,” Dick Monfort said. “We want to steadily improve and not be a team that has two to three good years then goes into (the tank).”
