Continue reading »]]> As pitchers and catchers report to their respective spring trainings, the Colorado Rockies prepare for a year in which they are determined to be better than this disappointment that was 2011.

How are they going to be better?

The answer from the front office has been loud and clear in the offseason. They tore up a clubhouse that clearly had become too content with their lack of success and needed an injection of fresh blood to stir things up.

In several offseason interviews, Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd pointed out that the issues went far beyond the failures on the field. It was clear that O’Dowd firmly believes that the true issue the Rockies dealt with in 2011 was rooted in a clubhouse culture that had become rotten at the core.

The changes came fast and furious in the offseason. O’Dowd shipped out Chris Iannetta, Huston Street, Ian Stewart, Seth Smith and finally, Jason Hammel.

The culture will certainly be different, but will the results on the field?

For O’Dowd to point to one issue being the biggest problem for the Rockies seems short-sighted.

First off, who is responsible for keeping players heads up when things aren’t going well on the field? That job belongs to Jim Tracy. While Tracy has not been given an extension, and finds himself in the final year of his contract, there was no accountability from his office, or from his coaches.

As the year waned on, Tracy’s demeanor became extremely tiresome. As was the case in both Los Angeles and Pittsburgh before he was shown the door, Tracy seemed to have more excuses than answers. He consistently blamed the Rockies injuries for the teams failures.

Were injuries a factor? Absolutely. However, every team deals with injuries, and anyone who watched the Rockies on a daily basis knew that the issues went far beyond health.

Tracy may have not been rewarded with a contract extension, but there has been nothing that points to O’Dowd being disappointed with his manager’s performance.

The other issue with the changing of the clubhouse culture is that O’Dowd only shipped out role players. At what point do the team leaders need to be blamed for a poor clubhouse culture. Sure, Chris Iannetta and Seth Smith may have the personalities of a bump on a log, but how much leadership should those guys be responsible for?

At some point, guys like Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez and Todd Helton need to take the reins and guide the younger, and less crucial players how to play the game the right way, and how to carry themselves in the clubhouse.

Of course, no one in their right mind would ship out those players because of clubhouse failures in one year, but at some point, those guys have to share in the blame. O’Dowd, however, has not publicly called out any of his current players for their contributions to a rancid clubhouse culture a year ago.

If the Rockies are hoping that simply changing some faces in the clubhouse will make a big difference in play on the field, they might be in for a big surprise in 2012.

David Martin has been a Rockies diehard from the beginning.  You can find more of his work over at Rockies Review.  Follow him on Twitter @RockiesReview.