After nearly 600 losses as Rockies manager, there are ample reasons to fire Clint Hurdle.
But the tough question Hurdle must answer is: Why does he deserve to stay in the Colorado dugout?
No matter how many times or how many ways the dethroned National League champions issue a mea culpa, it doesn’t change one essential fact.
This is a sorry baseball team.
From advancing baserunners to hitting the cutoff man to throwing smart pitches with two outs, the Rockies have forgotten how to play the right way. A franchise lacking the financial strength to spend more on talent than its rivals cannot afford to mess up the fundamentals.
“I think any manager in the game has to be judged by the quality of play on the field,” Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said Wednesday.
Either Hurdle must change his team’s approach to the game, or Colorado must make a change at manager.
While stressing his belief Hurdle is up to the challenge, O’Dowd indicated holding players to higher standards and benching those who fall short will be a key point of discussion when he sits down to talk with his seventh-year manager after this disappointing season ends.
The crumbling of the Rockies has been a system-wide failure, from the Monfort brothers’ think-small ownership to the personnel mistakes of O’Dowd to a minor-league operation with a glaring lack of mature pitching arms down on the farm.
“Blame is equally shared in this organization, and ultimately it stops at my desk,” O’Dowd said.
If Colorado outfielder Matt Holliday is lucky, he will get traded to Boston or another franchise that considers going for it all an annual obligation to fans rather than a once-in-a-generation thrill.
With a year remaining on his contract, Hurdle must show he’s up to the task of winning no matter which players remain on his roster.
“If you lose talented players, it obviously makes winning more difficult. It shouldn’t make your approach to the game more difficult,” said O’Dowd, citing the competitive team fielded this season by Minnesota after the Twins parted ways with outfielder Torii Hunter and pitcher Johan Santana.
If the end of the local baseball calendar wasn’t swamped by Broncomania, the Rockies might have little choice except to fire Hurdle now. But, unlike the die-hards in St. Louis and New York, we consider the game an excuse to drink beer in the sun between Memorial Day and Back to School Night.
When Hurdle volunteered at the outset of the team’s final road trip that “I need to be held accountable” for failures in pitching, defense and hitting, his apology was barely heard in a town too giddy about the Broncos’ 3-0 start to notice.
If paying customers do not hold the Rockies accountable for playing lousy baseball, why should Dick or Charlie Monfort?
Of course, bringing Hurdle back to a ballclub with lofty aspirations and serious between-the-lines issues might be condemning a manager to the worst fate possible.
The obvious problem for Hurdle is a question of faith in the future.
Do you really believe Colorado has developed the young talent to be a playoff contender year in and year out? Sorry, I don’t see it. The Rockies have three players with bona fide star power in Troy Tulo-witzki, Brian Fuentes and Holliday, although nobody would be surprised if two of those stars report to spring training with a new team.
O’Dowd, however, has staked his reputation on the promise of the Kid Rocks. Any GM with an ounce of self-preservation will make a change at manager before admitting a shortage of playing talent is what’s really wrong.
Whether you regard Hurdle as an inspirational Rocktober hero or incapable of chewing gum and making a pitching change at the same time, he finds himself in a tough spot.
“He has a very difficult job. I think he has a much tougher job than I do,” O’Dowd said. “But I think he’s up to the challenge.”
After taking great pains to turn over the clubhouse to his players, it will be difficult for Hurdle to go back to a take-charge, in-your-face, no-excuses management style. Should the Rockies paint all next spring’s dreams black with the same 11-17 start they had this season, you could color Hurdle gone.
So should Hurdle hope for the best, or take this job and shove it?
If Ubaldo Jimenez turns his nasty stuff into a sweet 18-victory season, if O’Dowd swings trades that cause major-league envy, if veteran Jeff Francis rediscovers his form, if Dexter Fowler becomes a candidate for rookie of the year and if Todd Helton again swings a bat like a slugger instead of a broken-down old man, Hurdle could have plenty to say about how long he stays as Colorado manager.
But how does that make Hurdle’s job security sound?
Very iffy.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
