Was Jim Tracy Almost The Arizona Diamondbacks Manager?

The Arizona Diamondbacks hired Chip Hale as their new manager this week. Was former Rockies’ manager Jim Tracy almost their guy?

How close were we to witnessing the return of Jim Tracy to the National League West?

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Well, maybe not that close. Chip Hale was named the man for the job as the new manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks this week. Jim Tracy was reportedly one of the candidates for the job.

He was a candidate, but probably not necessarily a finalist. See below (from MLB.com):

"The team acknowledged that there were nine candidates for the position: Sandy Alomar Jr., Jay Bell, Tim Bogar, Andy Green, Hale, Joe McEwing, Phil Nevin, Jim Tracy and Turner Ward."

As for what Hale’s hiring means for the Diamondbacks, the team pretty much went with the opposite of Kirk Gibson. When asked about what he will bring to the Diamondbacks, Hale said the following:

"“Your style is going to be dictated by the personnel you have,” Hale said. “I’ve managed teams that have been athletically inclined and can run, and we run a lot and do different things, and other teams that sat back and can hit a little bit. I’d like this team to be situationally sound, so I would like us to have everything in that bag, like a golf bag. We’ve got to be able to do everything.”"

No mention of grit. I “control F’ed” that web page and everything.

More importantly, Hale said he is going to manage to his personnel. Rather than approaching the situation with a predetermined idea of the team’s identity (you know, grit), Hale is going to let the guys on the roster dictate their philosophy. Like I said…the opposite of Gibson. In my book, that is an immediate upgrade for the Diamondbacks.

Who knows what Jim Tracy would have brought to the Diamondbacks’ managing gig? His success on the 2009 Rockies came because of an old school, hands-off approach in the locker room. I’m not sure if he necessarily qualifies as an “player’s manager,” but he seemed like he tried to keep a clean line between his office and the players’ area (that’s all based on writers’ accounts, of course).

Would Jim Tracy as an opposing manager been cause for concern for the Rockies? Would it have been cause to celebrate? Who knows, but alas, it was not meant to be.

Period. End of story.

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