We were discussing this article a little in the NL West thread, and although encouraging, it doesn't seem to me like Monfort knows for sure what he wants from the team this year, or where he thinks the Rockies should be heading even if he fires DO'D and Hurdle.

It also makes me wonder more about the drafting of Greg Reynolds, actually. I mean, if you were a GM and you knew your job was going to be on the line in 2007, what player would you choose:

Player A: Top of the rotation quality pitcher but unlikely to contribute until 2008 at the earliest.

or

Player B: Mid rotation quality starter who's more polished and could/should contribute as soon as 2007.

Interesting that we happened to choose "B" last summer, isn't it? I have nothing against Greg Reynolds and think he'll turn out to be a fine pitcher, but it's too bad that his ceiling and skill set happens to coincide so well with the end of O'Dowd's contract.

but I want Monfort to fire O'Dowd and Hurdle right now. They don't have that win-or-else mentality, which can sometimes, admittedly, be taken to extreme limits (I'm not sure what good a Lou Piniella type would do for the Rox), but neither of them seem to care that much that they are competing at a major league level. It's never, "Let's be good NOW, let's retain our talent and build a competitive team." Rather, it's "Oh, if we can get some prospects, we can develop them and possibly be good in the future... and since we're not playing for today, let's have Ray King, Jose Mesa, Tom Martin eat large portions of innings from the bullpen..."

To be quite honest, a managerial change may be just the thing that this team needs. Clint is a nice guy, but sometimes nice guys just don't cut it, and he hasn't shown any sort of the spark and drive that I'd like to see from a manager of one of my favorite teams. A's fans (of which I'm one) got on Ken Macha a lot for lacking this spark; they got to the ALCS and then fizzled out. And of course the Cardinals have Tony La Russa - even if the issue being debated on-field is irrelevant, you do know that they at least pay attention and care about what's happening.

I'm not saying I want Clint, or a new manager, to be throwing water coolers and getting ejected at every opportunity. But honestly, when a player does show a little spark and attitude, it usually makes me like them more. I want to see this from the skippers of the Good Ship Rockie, and I haven't. Change it up.

I think we should wait till th eend of next year if he was gonna fire him (no ealier) and see who's avail. If a good manager's there and you were gonna fire Hurdle then by allmeans do it if it benifits the team