Joe Maddon To The Colorado Rockies?

Earlier this week big news broke in Major League Baseball that was not related to the World Series. Joe Maddon, the Tampa Bay Rays manager, opted out of his contract making him a “free agent.”

Rumors have already started that teams like the Cubs, Mets, and a few others are already interested in Maddon being their manager. Some clubs felt they needed to make formal statements, stating they are happy with their current managers. However, Maddon will be discussed by most teams as he is considered one of the best managers in the game. Managers all around baseball should start updating their resumes, as Maddon will be taking someone’s job soon.

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This leads us to the Colorado Rockies, who have Walt Weiss as their manager. Weiss has two years left on his current contract. However, the Rockies lost 96 games last season and this will cause any team to question a lot of things about the organization. No one is blaming Weiss for the 96 losses, but it might be time for Colorado to make a big change.

The Rockies named a new general manager earlier this month when they promoted Jeff Bridich. He had been the team’s senior director of player development since 2011, and part of the Rockies organization since 2004. Therefore, some believe that Bridich will not be much of a difference from previous management. One way to prove those people wrong is to go out and hire Maddon.

Maddon would bring a fresh perspective to the Rockies organization, who have had the same management team since 1999. Maddon already proved he can win with less payroll, by taking the Rays to the playoffs four times during his tenure. In addition, he has shown he can manage young pitching.

The Rockies for once appear to have some good young pitching with the likes of Eddie Butler, Jordan Lyles, Tyler Matzek, Tyler Chatwood, and Jon Gray. Maddon seems like the best manager to get the most out of those young arms. As everyone knows, pitching is the biggest need the Rockies have as they had the worst ERA in all of baseball last season.

Maddon would bring a fresh perspective to the Rockies organization, who have had the same management team since 1999.

The most difficult part of hiring Maddon as the next Rockies manager will be convincing the owner, Dick Monfort, to pay top dollar for him. Weiss made only $666,667 for the 2014 season, which is one of the lowest in baseball. Maddon will be looking for more than he made last season, which was $2 million.

If the Rockies are really interested in Maddon, they will have to pay him around $4 to $5 million per year. Realistically, the Rockies don’t have much of a chance to have Maddon consider their team for a couple of reasons.

First, it is hard to see Monfort shelling out money to hire a new manager, especially the price it will take to hire Maddon. Second, Maddon will probably take a more prestigious job like the Cubs, Dodgers, or something similar.

If the Rockies want to prove to their fans and players that they care about winning, pushing to hire Maddon would be a huge step for everyone.

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