Is Apodaca to blame for Chacin's troubles? Franklin Morales?
This evening I had the privilege of being on 104.3 The Fan with Sandy Clough to talk about the Rockies and clearly the discussion among Rockies fans is who should be fired? Or should anyone keep their job? Rockies fans are getting so frustrated that they are not just asking for Bob Apodaca or Jim Tracy to lose their job but they want to see Dan O’Dowd, ‘Dac and Tracy ALL get the ax.
Who should get it first?
In years past the Monfort brothers have taken most of the abuse because the perception is that they are tight with their purse strings: not spending the money required to have a contending team. Sure this might be the case but I think they realized (much like the Anaheim Angels just might be finding out with Albert Pujols) that spending a ton of cash in the free agent market isn’t the best use of their financial resources.
But then this last offseason the Monfort’s went and inked not only Troy Tulowitzki to a lengthy and pricey contract but they doubled down by giving an extension to Carlos Gonzalez (which still surprises me considering who represents CarGo).
Hard to pin the blame on the Monfort’s now that they have spent some cash. But the Rockies continue to suck. Someone has to take the fall, right?
Tracy is an easy target; the manager or man in charge always is. While I wouldn’t shed a tear if Tracy were to get canned I just can’t see this entire season being only his fault. The messy handling of Ian Stewart, Chris Iannetta and Dexter Fowler were enough to get him fired in my humble opinion but this year the product he was provided to manage just isn’t up to par. Outside of Tulo and CarGo there isn’t much on the Rockies roster than many other teams would be interested in trading for.
There were rumors sparking today that possibly the Rockies are looking to trade Esmil Rogers (don’t let the door hit ya, Esmil) but who wants him? Who would want any of the barely big league level talent that the Rockies have at almost every position? Guys like Marco Scutaro, Michael Cuddyer and to some extent Ramon Hernandez, Jeremy Guthrie and possibly Fowler would get some interest from other teams but it will be very difficult for the Rockies to get anything of value in return.
O’Dowd has stocked the Rockies 40-man roster with a bunch of fringe MLB talent. He should take the fall if you ask me (and you are reading my opinion…).
I think the likely candidate who gets fired however, is Apodaca. The Rockies pitching is terrible (where is Charles Barkley when you need him or at the very least Frank Caliendo?). I don’t agree with this either.
Looking at the staff of pitchers that Apodaca has to work with this year there isn’t a lot of quality. He has seven guys who could start for the Rockies but none of them are very good.
Guthrie wasn’t great in Baltimore and his style doesn’t fit Coors Field. And speaking of bad fits none are worse than Guillermo Moscoso for Coors.
Jamie Moyer is old and throws soft pitch in the big leagues. The fact that he just might be the most reliable pitcher on the Rockies staff in of itself should be enough to get O’Dowd fired.
O'Dowd assembled this mess and he must go
The Rockies have a crop of young arms in Juan Nicasio, Drew Pomeranz, Christian Friedrich and Alex White who could all be solid big league pitchers and we will get to them in just a bit.
The two biggest cases against Apodaca are Jhoulys Chacin and Ubaldo Jimenez. Both were looking to be very good pitchers and there was a time late in 2010 and early in 2011 when some were thinking they might be worthy of comparing to some of the other great 1-2 punches in the National League West. Then Ubaldo either forgot how to pitch or was pissed at the Rockies and threw a three month tantrum causing him to be traded (and based on his outings thus far in 2012 he just plain forgot how to find the strike zone and throw hard) and now Chacin is in the minor leagues because he has been awful this year (and not really good at all since about mid-season in 2011).
Are these two prized pitching talents fall from grace all on Apodaca? I don’t think so.
Are the development of guys like White, Pomeranz, Nicasio and Friedrich all on Apodaca? I don’t think so.
By the time a player gets to the big leagues, pitcher or position player, the manager and coaches are mostly shrinks for the players, not teachers. All the teachers in an organization sit in the minor league and the guys for an organization that are going to really shape and mold the players are in the lower levels when the players are still somewhat a pile of Play-Doh waiting to be molded into something good, or if the organization is lucky, something great.
The lack of big league pitching talent from Rockies drafts (with the exception of guys like Jeff Francis and Aaron Cook who were at least serviceable) is not on Apodaca it is on the guys in the minor leagues who are failing to grow their young pitching.
Tyler Matzek is a prime example as a guy who was highly touted going into the 2009 draft and when the Rockies selected Matzek he immediately jumped to the top of their prospects according to sites like Baseball America. Going into 2011 he was the highest rated prospect the Rockies had (some might have said Wilin Rosario) despite a lackluster 2010. Then the wheels fell off. Matzek couldn’t find the strike zone and was getting lit like Uncle Fred on New Year’s Eve (we all have that uncle, don’t we?). It resulted in Matzek taking a leave of absence from the Rockies to go back to work with his old coach.
Matzek is still tooling around in the low level minor leagues for the Rockies and now doesn’t make most experts top 20 list when talking Rockies minor leaguers.
Friedrich lost velocity on his fastball. Greg Reynolds has never developed. The list goes on and on. And these are issues with pitchers that haven’t worked with Apodaca.
I have a hard time pinning the Rockies pitching performance on Apodaca but at the same time can understand the fans burning desire to see a few heads roll and with the current state of the Rockies pitching staff Apodaca does seemingly appear to be the guy who takes the fall.
Tracy isn't alone to take the blame
The Rockies organization has tried the high priced free agents (Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle) and they have tried the long term inking of a home grown talent (Todd Helton and now Tulo) and they have tried trading proven players in an attempt to reel in a king’s ransom in minor league talent (Matt Holliday for CarGo and more recently the Ubaldo trade) and nothing has worked. It is time for a clean sweep and a fresh beginning.
O’Dowd must go. The Rockies need to get a GM who will hire the right people in the minor leagues and player development. And they must do something about the Sky Sox: they need a viable facility where their AAA team can continue player development and Colorado Springs is just too much of a jumping pad (think Coors Field pre-humidor).
Along with O’Dowd I think his right hand man also takes the blame and is fired. Tracy just isn’t helping the team win and all the mental lapses on the field (at least three today in their 7-9 loss) has to be on the coach. It is his job to ensure the team is prepared to play and if they are not he must do something about it. He won’t and the team will continue to make pitiful mistakes.
And if Tracy goes then his staff probably goes, too. Which means Apodaca is looking for a job, Carney Lansford, too.
So I guess the answer to my initial question “who gets fired first” is everyone. Everyone must go. The Rockies aren’t contending in 2012 so let a fresh staff come in and start working with the team and evaluating who they want to keep going forward.
Get rid of O’Dowd. There had been rumors that O’Dowd’s #2 was getting interest in GM positions: Bill Geivett. Give him a shot.
Until massive changes occur I don’t see the Rockies contending anytime soon.
**And before you start throwing names like Don Cooper of the White Sox (Phillip Humber threw a perfect game!?) and Dave Duncan in St. Louis I might remind you how highly praised Leo Mazzone was because everyone said he was the reason guys like Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine (among others) were so good. But then Mazzone went to Baltimore and his staff didn’t do squat and now he isn’t even in baseball! Last time I checked Maddux was pretty good after he left Atlanta, Glavine too. Guys in the big leagues need little instruction, they need a good shrink.
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12 comments
1 ping
chrischrisman
May 17, 2012 at 8:45 PM (UTC -6)
I won’t argue against everyone going, but if I had to guess the sequence, it’ll be Dac and Carney first, and in an effort to light a fire. It’s largely ceremonial, but so were human sacrifices. This will be a move by O’Dowd and Tracy to try and save their jobs. Once that fails, O’Dowd will have no choice but to axe JT in early August and pray for a turnaround in the season’s final 7-8 weeks. If the team improves, O’Dowd might be able to convince the Monforts to stay the course. If the team doesn’t improve, or if Jim and Dan decide to go down together like Butch and Sundance, then DOD is gone after the season.
Jed
May 17, 2012 at 11:20 PM (UTC -6)
This team is just a huge disappointment so far this year. They have lost so many games that they should have won – it seems like they have lost more games that they should have won than they have actually won games (my brain hurts just writing that line).
The pitchers suck not just the pitching, but the players. I don’t think it is Apodaca, it is O’Dowd and the team the he built in the off season. Cuddyer has been a nice pickup, but none of the other moves were worth a damn.
Character in the club house my ass, talent wins baseball games, not character in the club house.
I am just very frustrated…
Jed
May 17, 2012 at 11:20 PM (UTC -6)
You can’t fire the players during the season, but HEADS MUST ROLL!
Simone
May 18, 2012 at 1:18 AM (UTC -6)
I say get a brand new coaching staff by the all-start game. That will give the new guys 1/2 the year + the offseason to fit into their roles and get ready for a competitive 2013 season. This year is already lost, let’s not waste next year as well.
Btw: How much longer do we need to see Rex Brothers throw away games before he’s sent back down to the Springs? And wasn’t there talk about the Rockies buying a humidor for the Skysox…what happened to that?
Pete
May 18, 2012 at 9:18 AM (UTC -6)
DOD must go first, allowing the new GM to fire JT and staff and replace with his own people. I have long thought that DOD seemed to be the problem, but recently I have seen how bad JT has managed the poor team he has been given. Yesterday’s 7-9 loss falls entirely on his shoulders in my opinion. It was one of the worst managed games I have ever seen. He has to go.
I screamed all last year that if we were going to trade our key starting players during the season or the off season, then we had to get value in return. We didn’t. Beginning with the Ubaldo trade and all the way through the off season, each move made by DOD and staff eroded the strength of the team a little bit. The only trade I thought was equal value was probably Stewart for Colvin, both teams giving up on promising players that had fallen out of favor and needed a change of teams. But even that trade hurt our team, since Colvin is a fourth outfielder and doesn’t fill a hole, while Stewart plugged Chicago’s hole at third. We now have a gaping hole at third and no way to fill it. The same with Hamel and Iannetta, value given, less value received. The result is a far weaker team on the field this year than last year, when we imploded. It will now be a rebuilding project to even become competitive. Young pitchers may or may not work out, and I agree with your comments about drafting them, but we should be able to produce a line-up that CONSISTENTLY produces runs and is a formidable opponent. Right now we are a Coors field team that is incapable of consistently scoring on the road.
DOD must go first, then rebuild.
Dan
May 18, 2012 at 11:34 AM (UTC -6)
I agree with Pete. Fire DOD first and let the new guy bring in his own people. However, I’m sure Apodaca will go first, followed by Lansford.
In reality, I bet DOD is here next year. Most rational people would argue that 13 years of sucking at your job would be about 12 years to many, but thinking rationally isn’t the Rockies way of doing business.
Steve
May 18, 2012 at 12:19 PM (UTC -6)
O’Dowd needs to go ASAP. How he has kept a job so long is “Beyond Me?”
First to go O’Dowd, followed by Tracy and Apodaca. In the case of the Pitiful Rockies this would be “Addition by Subraction!” Then go out and hire a Top-Flight GM and let the GM hire his own people.
TroyF
May 18, 2012 at 12:21 PM (UTC -6)
OK, quick, name a pitcher under Dac who has improved and kept improving when he gets to the show. The pitcher all start off decent and get worse as they go along, most of the time much worse. OK, so we got 1/2 season from Jiminez. Whoop de do. Friedrich went from top prospect to scrap heap to an above average prospect. How’d he do it? By training with Cliff Lee. Dac has to get the hell out of here and he should have been let go years ago.
I’m not some “there has to be sacrifices made if a team struggles” type of guy.The simple fact is that we have had less than 3 months of good baseball in the last 2 years and 2 months. If we take out the two hot stretches (28-14 From late July through early September in 2010 and the 17-9 April last year), here is our record:
126-167 That’s a .430 winning percentage. Only a handful of teams in the bigs have that low of winning percentages over the same time period. We aren’t talking about a team lacking for stars here. Our payroll may not be at a ridiculous level, but we aren’t spending Padres money either.
This team should be better. If I owned it, everyone who was responsible would be gone, I would gut the place.
Seth
May 18, 2012 at 9:42 PM (UTC -6)
This team is a disaster from the owners all the way down to the players. I am not sure how O’dowd thought this team would work when you get a downgrade at in almost every position. DOD must go for not only getting these players we have this year but also for the fact that we have a very depleted farm system even with the trade for Jimenez, which supposedly happened in order to grow the talent in the minors (give me break). What were scouts seeing when they looked at Pomeranz, because I have seen nothing close to what many reports were saying, he throws low 90′s rather than mid-high 90′s, and he seems to consistently hang his “very good” breaking ball. Alex White does not have a super sinker unless he is pitching in PETCO. And what about our own highly touted picks in the past, Matzek is toiling around in low minors while Casey Weathers along with Stewart are now in Chicago (which DOD somehow did good on this trade) Friedrich might be something unless Apodaca gets to him quickly. Our top 20 prospects according to MLB, are not even close to reaching the big leagues and who knows if they ever will. Most of them say don’t expect to see most of them until 2014 or later and no one knows what these guys are going to be like (Matzek is a prime example). Chacin seems to be in another world, Rogers was a top prospect two years ago and now is a guy who throws 97 but cant get an out. Remember last year when the Texas Rangers wanted EY, Rogers, and Chacin for Michael Young, who wants that offer back? Now lets get to the coaches and the players. Yes Tracy does not hold anyone accountable for their mistakes, its awful to see the players make dumb mental mistakes over and over again, and yet nothing happens to them because Tracy doesnt seem to care. And getting into the lack of hustle by the players in the field and on the bases, would you run hard when our entire bullpen seems to walk every batter and you cant get three outs and get off the field until we use 4 pitchers an inning? Would you want to run hard after a ball hit in the gap when the best pitcher you have on the mound is almost a half century old? There is no motivation to play for Tracy and O’dowd and I don’t blame them. A lot of the mistakes by the players are simple fundamental baseball. They should know how to run the bases, they should know how to get down a bunt to move the runner over, or if there is man on third, just put the ball in play. But they cant do it and they dont care, thanks to our coaches. I see no leadership from our “star” players and I don’t expect to unless they get some players they can actually play with. Its embarrassing. The best sentence that sums it up is….Clean house and start over!
TroyfLabfan
May 19, 2012 at 1:36 PM (UTC -6)
Seth,
Again, be VERY careful how you rate Pomeranz. He is a kid. He also underwent said goofy finish to last year. I thimpnk his elocity problem has everything to do with his release point problem
.
That is what scares me. Apa has access to all of these kids. All of these kids have potential. Even White. He will destroy this young staff if we are not smart enough to pull the plug.
officerKaratechop
May 23, 2012 at 6:48 AM (UTC -6)
I’m sick and tired of this managment team!! Tracy and O’Dowd must go as well as the pitching coaches!
And these owners don’t know how to spend money properly. I suggest we get in a new GM and M as well as Pitching staff and start fresh by the time of the all-star game. That way the new staff can settle into their jobs and be ready to contend for a playoff spot next season. We then need to draft in some talent. I belive with a new managment team and some new young talent we could be real contenders next season.
Zanna
May 23, 2012 at 1:15 PM (UTC -6)
Bob Apodaka has got to go!. He has a group of young talent but they don’t have confidence or strategy when it counts. Many people point to the development stages, but I am quite sure these guys can pitch and can throw strikes. What they are missing is the mental preparation and the mental toughness. I have seen Rockies’ pitchers go to other teams and blossom. I think the hitting is pretty good — and we would have won most of the past games even with average pitching. These pitchers are freaked out and scared — they get a few hits and totally fall apart. Let’s get someone who knows how to prepare pitchers mentally and strategically.
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