Back in October, fans of the Colorado Rockies rejoiced. Dan O’Dowd and Bill Geivett were out. The misery was over.
That excitement was tempered as quickly as it ignited when the Rockies announced that there would be no national search for a new general manager, as most fans would have anticipated. Instead, the Rockies already had a new general manager. Of course, as is par for the course, the Rockies had hired from within.
Instead of changing the culture of a losing baseball team, the Rockies had simply changed the name plates on the offices and kept the same tired theories in place.
However, Bridich has shown since January that he is quite different than O’Dowd.
On Sunday, the Rockies most recent boss made a bold move, releasing former ace Jhoulys Chacin without warning. The reality is, Chacin’s velocity was way down and his shoulder clearly wasn’t healthy. Instead of allowing Chacin to toil on a Major League mound, hoping his shoulder eventually would respond, Bridich decided to cut bait.
The move was the second part of a shrewd decision. The $5.5 million contract that Chacin signed in January wasn’t guaranteed, something rarely seen in baseball. Chacin’s contract was only locked in if he was on the Opening Day roster, which seemed like a sure bet when the deal was inked.
Some might question the move, but with Chacin eligible for free agency at the end of the season, it didn’t make sense for the Rockies to wait until June or July to figure out if Chacin could be healthy.
Bridich also recognized an issue that O’Dowd and Geivett never seemed to want to address. The Rockies signed Nick Hundley, a veteran catcher, to a two-year deal. It made some fans believe that Wilin Rosario would be traded. However, Rosario remains in the fold, giving the Rockies three options at catcher, including Michael McKenry.
The move wasn’t to allow Rosario to get moved. Instead, it addressed the elephant in the room. Rosario is a terrible defensive catcher. He was doing no favors for the Rockies behind the plate. The last thing a set of young pitchers need is for someone to be behind the plate who not only can’t help them develop, but in fact makes it worse for them.
The Rockies are known for their fierce loyalty. That loyalty could also be termed using a different word; stubborn.
Bridich seems more able and willing to pull the trigger. He sees an issue and addresses it. That alone will help the Rockies move into reality. Instead of hoping that certain prospects will be what the team has envisioned, Bridich looks like he is comfortable seeing talent for what it is.
The Rockies have a long way to be respectable, but Bridich deserves to be seen as different than Dan O’Dowd. He clearly has his own ideas and he isn’t afraid to employ them.
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