New Boss Same as the Old Boss for the Colorado Rockies
By Joe Morrone
Sep 15, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort before the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
After watching the introductory press conference for Colorado Rockies new General Manager Jeff Bridich, I don’t see a lot of improvement in the future. I really hope I’m wrong but there were so many red flags coming out of that press conference.
The first is the fact that Bridich and the Rockies seemed surprised at some of the questions. The media wanted to know what the plan was going forward and Bridich had no answer to that question. At one point he said something to the effect of we will have to have a lot of meetings in the near future to formulate a plan. What?
Every time a new General Manager is hired in any sport, they always have a plan. They may not share it but they have a direction, and a vision for the team. Bridich looked surprised that people would even ask him what is plan was. That’s frightening.
Other sports organizations hire General Managers because they liked the plan that was presented in the interview process. When Joe Sakic was hired to run the Colorado Avalanche, he had a plan. He did not share what that plan was but within weeks Patrick Roy was named the head coach, and the Avalanche enjoyed immediate success.
The Rockies hire a General Manager because his office was right down the hall, and it was easier than doing a national search.
Bridich spent most of the press conference talking about how much he loves Dan O’Dowd and how the former General Manager is his mentor. Every Rockies fan cringed when they heard that. Then Bridich says that everything he knows in baseball he has learned from O’Dowd. Oh, this is comforting. The Rockies new General Manager is using a blueprint that didn’t win in 15 years.
The Rockies are well known for passing the buck, nothing is ever anyone’s fault. It’s always injuries or some other excuse. Well that hasn’t changed under Bridich. The part of the press conference that scared me the most was when Bridich called up Manager Walt Weiss to answer a question.
You will excuse me if I expect my new General Manager to answer every question and leave no doubt who is in charge. I have no clue who is in charge at 20th and Blake. I know it’s supposed to be Bridich but he has no plan and won’t even answer every question. Is it Weiss? It can’t be him because he has no power. At this point, I’m assuming that Dinger has the final say.
Then there’s Dick Monfort who made it known he would not take questions at the press conference. What’s that about? He owes it to the fan base to talk about why his organization is a complete joke and why there was no national search for a guy that actually had a plan.
Make no mistake, one of the reasons Bridich was hired is because Monfort knows he can control him just like he controlled O’Dowd for 15 years. Good General Managers who are allowed to do their job have autonomy and are allowed to make moves that will help the team on the field. Bridich all but admitted that he doesn’t have that when he said, “The only people who have autonomy are Dick and Charlie Monfort.” So even if this guy has some good ideas, it won’t matter because the Monforts are actually in control.
There was a glimpse of optimism for Rockies fans on Wednesday morning when they learned that O’Dowd and Bill Geivett were out. That optimism quickly disappeared when they figured out that the new guy is the same as the old guy.
The bottom line is this; the Rockies are never going to hire a strong, capable General Manager as long as the Monforts own the team and no General Manager with any self-respect is going to work for these clowns.
Welcome to O’Dowd era, part two!