Thursday Evening NLCS Thread; plus notes on the Rockies coaching moves

by Rox Girl on Oct 9, 2008 5:07 PM MDT in Miscellaneous

I haven't weighed in yet on Tuesday's "shake-up" of the coaching staff. The bottom line for me is that I don't know what more we could have expected. Had the team decided to fire Apodaca, it would have been a clear signal to Clint Hurdle to watch his back, but I'm pretty sure Clint has to be aware that his situation is shaky heading into 2009 anyway. Also, I think a message firing of Doc may have made Hurdle a little too conservative heading into next season and I believe the team needs him to take risks with a couple of young players (namely trusting Ian Stewart and Jorge de la Rosa). The pitching of this team was only on a par with the hitting woes brought on by declines of Tulo, Helton, Atkins and a couple of others. Were those hitting woes the result of bad coaching though? I don't think that answer is clear, I'm leaning to no, but what was clear was that the fanbase needed to see some action if the team didn't want an exodus of season ticket holders.

According to Baseball Reference, the Rockies park adjusted ERA+ and our OPS+ were each at 97, meaning just below average for the league. Last season, both were well over average. I think the only reason Apodaca got the pass for now was cronyism, but he and Hurdle will have to be on an extremely short leash in 2009 with the level of fan discontent once again making a significant threat to team revenues. So Alan Cockrell, Mike Gallego and Jamie Quirk are the latest to take the fall for failures that may be systemic, sort of the like the American economy, however, I don't know if the Rockies can keep up the guise of coaching solvency for long without real fixes.

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I believe this to be most accurate

I don’t want Dac around any more than the next person, but at the same time, take him away and Hurdle is essentially a lame duck manager awaiting his firing.

Besides, so long as Bo McLaughlin gets put on the big league coaching staff, the desired outcome will likely be acheived. Outside of McClure, McLaughlin is probably the best choice for pitching coach because of the trust in him by Francis and the young latin pitchers. It would not surprise me if McLaughlin was bullpen coach in title only, but given a larger say in the development of the young arms.

I know Hurdle says he wants a bench coach with managerial experience, but I’d think that ownership would as well, and in fact, should, in tandem with O’Dowd, find favor with whoever Hurdle selects. The choice here is essentially the manager in waiting.

Overall, this is looking to be an ugly situation for Hurdle, but he hasn’t help himself dig out of it either. O’Dowd, if he does his job rather than try to save his job, moves Holliday and Atkins for fair value or better, Hurdle won’t have his regular deck to play with. It allows for a built in excuse but should not be tolerated all the same.

When you look at, this shouldn’t be a prove it year, or lame duck year for a manager. A healthy team would move Atkins and Holliday for young, talented, controllable players, and let them learn on the job next year on a roster with few stars but few sinkholes as well. That type of team needs a stable front office and coaching staff. The Rockies won’t be giving next year’s team that, and maybe that’s a shame.

by David OhNo on Oct 9, 2008 8:10 PM MDT reply actions

Actions

Clearly they need to shake up the personnel as well- what do you propose the front do? Who would you target?
Unrelated : Watching the NLCS, and it seems to me that someone is going to overpay Derek Lowe this offseason, in both dollars and length, I hope it’s not us.

by Hizilla on Oct 9, 2008 8:22 PM MDT up reply actions

I see him going into that Jeff Suppan category of a couple of years ago

Only Lowe’s a better pitcher, but the it’s the same sort of deal where somebody will be too enamored with what he did the last half of 2008 to take into account where his career really is and where it’s headed. A month and a half ago I was in favor of going after Lowe, but now I think we’ll be better served with another pitcher. If he’s going to be overpriced, somebody else on that tier is going to be a relative bargain, we just have to figure out who it is. I’m thinking it may wind up being Oliver Perez.

by Rox Girl on Oct 9, 2008 9:13 PM MDT up reply actions

The front office's primary goal: Do not close the window

The Rockies should have a geat opportunity to build a contender for years into the future, so long as it treats Atkins and Holliday as chips to bring in multiple young, talented, controllable players, instead of focusing on singular goals like a big starting pitcher.

Simply put, the Rockies aren’t going to get an ace unless they make one. They don’t have to use their own batter, but they aren’t going to find anyone handing over their freshly baked goods either. Maybe they can fetch a Philip Hughes, or a Carlos Carassco, or even a Tevor Cahill, but they shouldn’t be expecting a Mike Pelfrey or Ervin Santana. Follow the Twins/A’s model and get a high count of quality for your tradable assets.

Instead of lookig to create a strength, the Rockies should instead try and eliminate weaknesses. Maybe you don’t have superstars, but you don’t have sinkholes either. The West isn’t and won’t be won by a 100 game winner, so there’s no need to take an unhealthy stab at it with a shortsighted gameplan.

Off-season focal points: Pitching and defense. It sounds oversimplistic but it has merit all the same. The ‘09 Rockies will have to perform above it’s pythag to succeed, because they likely won’t have the slugging to blast themselves to high run totals. Instead, steal outs, give opponents fewer chances on the base paths, and develop a pitching staff best designed to make use of defensive strengths.

Specifically, that means an infield of Stewart-Tulo-Newbie-Helton. The three returnees where pluses according to plus/minus, and Tulo should be much better several months removed from a quad injury. It means that Spilborghs is given left field permanently and not asked to try and cover Coors center. It means that Seth Smith must earn his way in by hitting and not by simply being the next guy in line.

Now, that plan also needs Fowler in center for best effect. Is he ready? I’d try to find out. He isn’t Jayson Nix, he’s actually closer to Tulo as far as similarities in development. Fowler is a plus defender built for Coors, and kept around the eight hole, pressure will be taken off him to perform.

by David OhNo on Oct 9, 2008 9:18 PM MDT up reply actions

You want corporate

breathing down our necks, Rox Girl, if you don’t put in that MLB hub image/link in a post about the playoffs? :-P

"Never Surrender Dreams" - Inscription on J. Michael Straczynski's bench

Purple Row - Covering all your Rockies needs!

by Russ Oates on Oct 9, 2008 8:59 PM MDT reply actions

Yeah, I sort of lost the e-mail describing where to find it

Of course I could have gone through old posts here, but that would have involved some extra effort. Not my style. :)

by Rox Girl on Oct 9, 2008 9:10 PM MDT up reply actions

Staff changes

I have not seen Greg Reynolds enough times to be familiar with his full arsenal of pitches, but it seems he would benefit most from focusing on developing a plus changeup. With his arm angle and pitch plane it would seem to an ideal “out pitch” for him. Is there someone in the Rockies system that can teach him that?

by Fos on Oct 10, 2008 1:47 PM MDT reply actions