Dan O’Dowd made by far the best personnel move of his 15-year tenure as Rockies general manager on Wednesday . Good riddance.
The new man in charge of fixing this mess is Jeff Bridich. . Having witnessed Colorado blow too many 5-3 leads to count at Coors Field, I have Blake Street smarts.
Here is my eight-point plan to rebuild the Rockies. While Bridich undoubtedly aced his college entrance exams, he will cheat off my paper if Colorado wants to win.
1) Trade CarGo: I have a mancrush on outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. His skills are electric, his personality is magnetic.
But we need to get over CarGo. It’s foolish to think a team that lost 96 games will be transformed into a playoff contender merely by avoiding the rash of injuries that plagued Colorado in 2014. Gonzalez needs to rehab his surgically repaired knee and his batting stroke. But once he starts raking like an all star, to rebuild.
2) Gloves, bats and bullpen: The humidor is O’Dowd’s legacy. It was based on sound science, but so is this: Coors Field will always make starting pitchers miserable. A more reliable formula for winning baseball in Colorado needs to depend on more reliable skill sets.
It all starts with defense, because the good glove work shortens innings. That’s why third baseman Nolan Arenado is so essential to the Rockies . Next, in the spirit of the Blake Street Bombers, this team’s batting order needs to produce 800 runs every season. Pitching is important, but all too often, it’s what happens after starters are chased from the mound that really matters at Coors. The Rockies must own the seventh, eighth and ninth innings; build the pitching staff from the back to the front.
3) Tell the boss to shut up: , Rockies owner Dick Monfort is a likable, smart businessman. was the most inspired entertainment idea our dusty old cowtown has seen since the Casa Bonita divers.
Monfort, however, has no instincts for baseball. If Bridich can’t tell Monfort to stick to business and leave the baseball to folks who know the game, the new general manager is doomed to the same failure as O’Dowd.
4) Bring in the fences: We don’t need no stinkin’ spray chart of balls in play at the LoDo ballpark to know that it’s not the long ball that kills pitchers at altitude, it’s the bloop singles and doubles to the gap in a spacious outfield where earned run averages go to die.
while erecting higher walls that make aesthetic and design sense. What to put behind new extra space behind the fences? How about a zoo of Colorado animals or a marijuana garden? But we will leave those tough decisions to Monfort.
5) Ban G.M. from clubhouse: While I sat in the office of Bill Geivett one morning during spring training, his cellphone rang twice within 15 minutes. He glanced at the incoming number, rolled his eyes and said it was Monfort, again and again.
In his role of major-league operations chief, Geivett set up shop with an office in the Coors Field clubhouse. It was a bad look, inviting paranoia in players and undercutting the authority of manager Walt Weiss. , along with O’Dowd. No later than sundown, his office at Coors should be turned into storage closet.
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6) Live 24/7/365 at 5,280: To thrive at altitude, an athlete has to train and live at altitude. The road woes of the Rockies, which lost a team-record 60 games away from home in 2014, have been well-documented. Problem is, too many Rockies spend too little time at 5,280 feet. This won’t be easy, but team management must establish world-class training facilities or any other inducements that encourage players to live in Colorado year-round.
7) The pitching commandments: a) Draft pitchers who not only know how to throw but are great athletes; b) Strike three never leaves the yard; so those great athletes better throw smoke, and c) The life cycle of a pitcher in Coors is no more than five years; after that the ego damage is too great.
8) Buh-bye, Dinger: We all know Monfort is such a soft-hearted pushover he abhors the idea of firing anybody. So we beg the purple dinosaur to please, please, please take a cue from O’Dowd and resign. Do it for the good of the franchise, Dinger. This ballclub, and its mascot, have been a joke for too long.
Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or
