Troy Tulowitzki continues to reveal his selfish, entitled side in latest Colorado Rockies rant

The verdict is in. Troy Tulowitzki is a terrible human being.

On Monday morning, Bob Nightengale’s piece for USA Today revealed a scathing interview that he had with the former face of the Colorado Rockies. Seven months removed from his lonely perch at the end of the visitors dugout at Wrigley Field, Tulowitzki remains bitter and upset with the Rockies for the way he was traded.

Apparently, however, his feelings went far beyond the way the trade went down. Tulo insisted that Jeff Bridich lied to him, telling him that he would be made known of any trade talk that came up. Instead, Tulo was dealt to a team that he wasn’t really thrilled about going to, without any knowledge of the move beforehand.

The trade is one thing to be mad about, but in the same breath Tulo talked about thinking it would have been great to remain a Rockie his entire career, he ripped everything about the organization. He ripped them top-to-bottom.

The move was classless. It was the latest in a long line of examples of Troy Tulowitzki caring about one person, himself.

Had Tulowitzki held bitterness towards the front office for a perceived lie it would have been one thing. However, the statements that came after that went further than the front office, crossing the line and showing exactly why the Rockies felt like they needed to rid themselves of the clubhouse cancer that Tulowitzki had become.

Tulo went beyond the front office and decided to rip his former teammates. He used the excuse of the Blue Jays having a terrible spring training complex to begin his rant against his former teammates, many of whom he felt like he was a mentor too, even when it really bugged him.

The star shortstop referred to the Rockies spring training home as being too nice. He claimed that it was so nice that players didn’t take it seriously and that it took on a “country club atmosphere.”

Those are the types of comments– those and the comments he made to the media after the Ubaldo Jimenez trade, and the comments that Tulo made to the media after a poor start from Jason Hammel in the 2012 season, the comments that he made to the media following Todd Helton’s final home game and comments that he made to the fans during Rockies Fest about his teammates– are where the former Rockie shows how selfish he really is.

Tulo talks about the burden of having to teach the young players how to be professionals. However, maybe his idea of what being a pro is exactly what was wrong with the Rockies clubhouse.

Apparently things had to be so serious in the Rockies clubhouse that a little relaxing during the middle of March in the spring facilities was too much for him to handle. Apparently having some fun in the midst of 30 completely meaningless games was simply too much.

Imagine being in that clubhouse. If six months of baseball, plus six weeks of spring training isn’t long enough, having some superstar decide that kicking back in the clubhouse in the middle of March was just too much. The pressure that Tulowitzki put on the young players must have worn thin on his teammates very quickly.

Imagine going to work and having that one guy be so annoyingly committed to his job that he insists that he is the one working the hardest. When anyone else doesn’t show up early and leave late every single day like him, they aren’t as valuable, and he lets them know it. As annoying as that guy is, throw this part on top of it. Imagine that guy giving guilt trips for your lack of work ethic, then calling in sick every Wednesday with a myriad of issues. That is essentially what Tulowitzki was doing in the Rockies clubhouse.

The comments that Tulowitzki made to Bob Nightengale, however, conveniently ignore the fact that not a single Rockies team was relying on him and him alone to be the leader. Even after Todd Helton’s departure, Tulowitzki had Michael Cuddyer in the clubhouse. He also had Carlos Gonzalez, Justin Morneau, Nick Hundley, and plenty of other veterans in the same clubhouse. That is just on the offensive side. Jorge De La Rosa, Rafael Betancourt, LaTroy Hawkins, John Axford and so many others were around to also mentor the young players coming through the system. For Tulowitzki to act like he was carrying that burden himself is simply ridiculous.

Frankly, the way the trade went down was probably handled poorly. Jeff Bridich could easily have mitigated the situation better than he had. However, it seems that he wanted to show who was in charge. He made a point and that is clear to Tulowitzki.

However, at some point, the shortstop needs to get over it. His agent told the New York Post about a lunch meeting in May to discuss a trade, but then insisted that he never wanted to be traded. He wanted to stay with the Rockies for his whole career, but made comments about not wanting to be in the same situation that Todd Helton was on the very night that the Rockies celebrated his career.

Tulo always claimed that he didn’t want to be moved, but complained that he didn’t want to be with the Rockies through a rebuilding process. It seems that the mixed messages that he sent to the Rockies were taken as a guy who didn’t want to be the leader anymore and as a guy who wasn’t buying into what the Rockies were trying to build.

The Rockies certainly aren’t a franchise that deserves heaps of praise. No one is saying that the Rockies are run the right way or that Tulo should have been happy the whole time he was wearing purple pinstripes. However, to suggest that he should still be bitter and upset about things shows a selfishness that may have been part of the Rockies problem just as much as bad ownership.

The reality for Tulowitzki is that he wasn’t exactly carrying the Rockies on his heavy legs. It wasn’t like Tulo was the only reason the Rockies stayed in contention every year. The team was terrible with him just like they are without him. The trade wasn’t exactly something that made them get much worse. With a salary like Tulo’s combined with his injury history, and revelation of his terrible leadership skills, it is a wonder that they Rockies didn’t trade him sooner.

Follow me on Twitter @RockiesReview