Colorado Rockies: 5 Candidates for the Open Manager Job

3) Bud Black

Another man who is extremely familiar with the National League West, Bud Black managed the San Diego Padres from 2007-2015. While the Padres weren’t wildly successful under Black, most believe he did a good job with some rosters that were thin on talent. The best example of this came in 2010: The Padres were in contention to the very end, and Black won manager of the year, but San Diego also blew a large division lead to the Giants and missed the playoffs.

Black was a pitcher in the majors and a pitching coach for the Angels before he became the Padres manager, and his pitching background seems like a good fit for the Rockies young rotation. Black also excelled at squeezing great performances from bullpens that were underwhelming on paper, which is definitely something Colorado could use.

Black very nearly agreed to become the Washington Nationals manager last season, but backed out when he felt like their final offer was too low. Black spent 2016 working in the Angels front office and is under no pressure to get back into managing.

He’s not going to sign with the Rockies for cheap, so that could be a deal-breaker, but if Colorado is willing to splurge, Black is an experienced, worthy candidate.