The Colorado Rockies’ Case To Retain Walt Weiss

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Apr 6, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Colorado Rockies manager W. Weiss greets Milwaukee Brewers manager R. Roenicke before the game at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

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Truth be told, no more devil’s advocate, I expect Weiss to go this winter. He’s now had three really bad years in Denver; he’s 203-271 (.428) across that time frame entering play on Tuesday night.

I’d be very surprised if he came back, even with the Rockies’ generally insulated focus on keeping talent within the organization, often at the expense of the future of the organization as a whole. (See: O’Dowd, Dan.) But now, with a new GM (yeah, I know, one who was promoted from within… again), the Rockies will maybe (probably? Hopefully?) make the move to get rid of Weiss.

[ Related: Tying your identity to pro sports… and why that’s very bad ]

But I’ve gotta be honest about it: what changes if and when the Rockies dump Weiss? Will they suddenly be good under a new manager, as if they don’t, you know, still have to fix MASSIVE PROBLEMS like the rotation, the bullpen, the way they (don’t) hit left-handed pitching, and just generally everything they’ve ever done on the road?

Does Bud Black give them, like, a ten-game win jump simply be existing in the first base dugout at Coors Field? This is a long process to rebuild a baseball team, and it’s a process that involves so much more than the on-field manager.

Honestly, I’m about as ambivalent as it gets when it comes to Weiss; if he stays, fine, let’s fix all the problems he’s been unfairly saddled with or else we’ll never win. If he leaves, that’s great, but Black/Kapler/House/Anyone/Everyone is going to look awful in the managers’ chair if the Rockies don’t commit to actually building a winning ball club.

Firing Walt Weiss is, broadly, a perfect parallel to trading Tulo: if you do it, you better double down on everything else around and after you do it, or else making that move alone with no other plan to re-building will do absolutely nothing to make you better. It looks like this winter, the Rockies and Bridich will be tested on both of those events.

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