Rockies Close To Hiring Mark Wiley As Pitching Coordinator

You might be thinking: geez Hayden, I sure have some burning questions about the Rockies this offseason. Who will replace Jim Tracy? What will happen with Jason Giambi? Will Todd Helton return for another season? Who will be the next pitching coach? Who will be the next hitting coach? Will somebody wise up and fire the general manager managers?

This one was probably not on your list: who will be the new pitching coordinator?

Not pictured: Mark Wiley or any other executive. This is a picture of

. Image: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

And why is it on nobody’s list of offseason questions for the Colorado Rockies? Because nobody knows what a “pitching coordinator” is. Because Dan O’Dowd straight made it up. Created it out of nowhere. That’s kind of this franchise’s thing these days, if you haven’t already noticed.

So what is a pitching coordinator? Per Troy Renck’s report in the Denver Post this morning, it is somebody who will oversee all of the pitching for the whole organization. Top to bottom. Rookie league to the Rockies. More from Renck:

“This person would work in coordination with O’Dowd and assistant general manager Bill Geivett, establishing a clear pitching philosophy throughout the minor and major leagues.”

In short, this person seriously has their work cut out for them. Clarity is not exactly a strength for the men who created a four man rotation piggyback thing, made up some new front office positions (including one where an assistant general manager travels with the team and sits in the locker room), then junked the four man rotation, and then instantly fired two more coaches after their then-manager “unexpectedly” resigned.

Other than that, their agenda lately has been crystal clear.

Don’t feel bad if you don’t understand. Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo and Dan O’Dowd just called, and they said you just wouldn’t understand. Their burden is not for us lay folks to even attempt to comprehend, they said.

Now, to ratchet the snark down for a moment, here is some background on Wiley: he has previously served as pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians and

Miami

Florida Marlins. Most recently he has been serving as a scout for the Marlins, and he does have some experience with the Rockies from a long time ago. Among his first responsibilities will be the task of hiring a new pitching coach.

If Wiley truly brings a fresh perspective, he can truly benefit this franchise by bringing them back to reality a little bit. But the freshness (or lack thereof) of his perspective depends on how close he is with O’Dowd. If this is one of those good ol’ Cleveland connections, then he might just become the newest member of this bizarre front office, perpetuating and promoting impulsive decisions, making excuses, and getting in his own way by outsmarting himself because he believes that having a baseball team in Colorado is “impossible.”

So let’s all agree to hope it’s the “fresh perspective” one.