Colorado Rockies: 5 Candidates for the Open Manager Job

The often-rumored divorce between the Colorado Rockies and Walt Weiss finally happened Monday, as the team announced Weiss decided not to return as manager. The focus now turns to the future, as we take a look at five names the Rockies should consider hiring as the seventh manager in franchise history.

1) Glenallen Hill

If the Rockies are looking for a candidate who has “paid his dues”, Glenallen Hill would be a strong choice. Hill has been with the Rockies organization since 2003, and he’s been the manager for Colorado’s Triple-A team since 2013.

Colorado’s rookie class in 2016 was incredibly successful, and Hill deserves at least some of the credit for that. David Dahl specifically credited Hill for developing and preparing him for the Major Leagues. The Rockies roster in 2017 will be full of young players that played under Hill in the recent past, so there would be a level of comfort and continuity there as well.

Colorado might be somewhat turned off by Hill’s winning percentage at the Triple A level (.441), but that shouldn’t be a major concern. Teams generally care more about development than win-loss record from minor-league managers, and besides, as the talent in the Rockies farm system has improved, Hill’s results have as well.

Overall, Hill is probably one of the strongest candidates, and it won’t be shocking if the Rockies decide to stay in-house and hire him.

2) Ron Wotus

Ron Wotus has been the Giants bench coach for so long, they were still playing at Candlestick Park when he started the job. He’s been second in command behind three different managers in San Francisco (Dusty Baker, Felipe Alou and current manager Bruce Bochy), and had tremendous success with all three.

Wotus previously managed in the minor leagues, and won two coach of the year awards in just seven seasons. He’s expressed an interest in managing at the MLB level, and has reportedly interviewed for several openings in previous years.

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It will be difficult for Colorado to find any candidates with more experience or success on their resume than Wotus, not to mention the wealth of knowledge he could bring about beating the Giants and the rest of the NL West.

However, in the past, the Rockies have generally filled their manager position with cheaper options, and it seems unlikely that they’d be able to land Wotus without making a more competitive offer. Other teams seeking managers will likely want to talk with him as well, so if Colorado wants Wotus, they’ll need to be aggressive in their pursuit.

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.

4) Dave Martinez

Joe Maddon’s right-hand man in Chicago, Dave Martinez has been Maddon’s bench coach every season since 2008, when the duo shocked the world by leading the Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series.

When Maddon left for Chicago, multiple players from the Rays endorsed Martinez to take over as manager. Ben Zobrist, who played for Martinez in Tampa and now in Chicago, said the following to the Tampa Bay Times:

“I still like Dave Martinez at the top of the list,” Zobrist emailed. “I think Dave is ready for the opportunity to see how he can do. He has always been 100 percent into the games mentally and I know he has the baseball acumen to manage in game situations.”

Martinez has interviewed for multiple manager positions in the past and will almost certainly receive more interviews this off-season after the Cubs dominant season. Martinez has learned under one of the game’s most innovative and respected managers, and he seems overdue for his shot at running the ship.

One Final Thought

The Rockies will almost certainly be better next season. That has less to do with the manager, and more to do with the quality of their young talent. But if Colorado is going to finally reach and sustain a level of consistent success, it’s vital they do a better job maintaining the relationship with their manager … whoever that manager may be.

The last two managers in Colorado left town on such bad terms that they chose to step down. A Major League Baseball managing job is one of the most coveted positions in the country, if not the world. The fact that Jim Tracy and now Weiss both walked away from that rather than try to make it work with the front office and the Monforts is troubling.

No one can say for sure that one of the candidates named above can lead the Rockies back to the playoffs. What we can say for sure however, is that if the front office doesn’t do a better job of building and maintaining a healthy work relationship with that manager, it won’t make a difference who they hire.

Next: Could Matt Holliday Come Back to Colorado in 2017?

The pieces on the field seem to be aligned for the Rockies to make a run next year. But the best organizations have strong leadership at the top, and as of this moment, it’s not clear that Colorado has that.