The Colorado Rockies started playing baseball in 1993. In 1995 the club went to the playoffs as the wild card team. 1996 and 1997 saw the club be very competitive just missing the playoffs in those years. 1998, came and the Rockies started off good but faded in the second half. In 1999, the Rockies had one of their worst records since their first season going 72-90. 1999 is when the owners of the Rockies the Monfort Brothers hired Dan O’Dowd to be the General Manager. A year later Keli McGregor would become President and would work with O’Dowd (O’Dowd was the GM but had to answer to McGregor). O’Dowd had developed talent for the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians. Both teams were contenders so the Monforts thought he could do the same thing with the Rockies.
O’Dowd dismantled the 1990’s teams’ offenses which were called the Blake Street Bombers. Ellis Burks, Dante Bichette , and Vinny Castilla were traded away. O’Dowd thought he could build a team around Todd Helton who replaced Andres Galarraga at first base. O’Dowd remade the bullpen for the following season. The 2000 Colorado Rockies due to a strong bullpen went 82-80 and were a factor in the division race till the final month. The Rockies thought they were just a pitcher or two away from being contenders. So O’Dowd got Houston Astros & New York Mets ace Mike Hampton as well as Denny Neagle. 2001, came and the Rockies were a mess. Hampton could not get his off speed pitches to work at Coors. Neagle could not stay out of legal trouble first getting in trouble with drugs and later prostitution.
2002-2005 The Rockies decided to develop players instead, because Hampton, Neagle and other talent had been a bust for the club. The Rockies focused on player development. In 2006, the Rockies became interesting again. But in 2007 the Rockies really shinned. The 2007 team saw young talent such as Ubaldo Jimenez, Jeff Francis, and Troty Tulowitzki lead the team to its first World Series appearance . O’Dowd after dealing with injuries in 2008 decided to make some trades. The rotation was redone with Hammell and Marquise being acquired. The Rockies also added Street to be the closer and Cargo to help patrol the outfield. The 2009 season was the best so far in Rockies history. The team went 92-70, leading the league in offense, having a respectable ERA of 4.40, and having every starter win at least 10 games. The Rockies including myself thought that Colorado was going to be contenders for a while.
However in 2009 things were showing signs of falling apart. Clint Hurdle was fired during the season just right when the team was getting hot. Sadly McGregor who had operated all of the team’s operations passed in early Spring 2010. It just seemed like after McGregor died Dan’ O’Dowd could never do his job right. Hammel, Marquis, and street were traded away. Dan ended up getting Guthrie to be the Rockies top of the rotation starter in 2012. Now, no offense to Guthrie, but Guthrie is not a #1 type starter. On a good team Guthrie would have been a middle rotation starter.
So since 2010 the Rockies have been in decline. Dan O’Dowd looks like he no longer cares anymore. Every year he tries to say oh this is the year the Rockies make strides. When the team does not its the same excuses its the elevation or injuries. Instead of trying to get good starters like he did in 2009 he tries to find castaways or pitchers with injury history. Since McGregor died Dan has looked and acted loss as a GM. It has become clear that McGregor was really the one calling the shots. His position has yet to be filled. In Dan’s 15 year reign as GM of the Rockies. The Rockies have had 4 winning seasons and two playoff appearances.
At one time Dan may have been a good GM but many, including myself, feel like it was McGregor who built the 2007 and 2009 teams. It is time for Dan to be let go and let somebody else give it a try. Had this been the Cardinals or Reds Dan would have been gone years ago. The owners probably won’t fire Dan O’Dowd but if they really care about winning they need to let him go.
The Monforts have stated they want to build a team around Cargo, Tulo and Arenado. The reality is that is not going to happen as long as O’Dowd is the GM. The owners as I stated need to let O’Dowd go and bring somebody else in to build a team around those three guys. The Rockies have a lot of talent and they should not have a 36-50 record. This is a team that at the worst should be 500 with its explosive offense. The failure has not been the offense, it has been the pitching. De La Rosa is really the only pitcher left that can win games on this club. Anderson is hurt, Chacin who had an impressive 2013 season may be lost due to shoulder surgery, Chatwood may need elbow surgery, and Lyles like Anderson is hurt.
So Dan needs to take a bow or be let go so the Rockies can build their team around Cargo, Tulo and Arenado. Maybe if the Rockies fire O’Dowd the Rockies can at least get back to being a factor again. Until then its going to be a very long summer year after year for the Rockies
tornadocam 