but, they all fit

See lower down.

Though I suppose since it’s somewhat of a retooling (though with the possibility of contention) year, that could be extended a season unless things go horribly wrong.

I still think this is closer to the typical “vote of confidence” than it may seem on the surface.

Its figuring out exactly where to draw that line that I’m struggling with. A part of me feels the same way about Tracy as you do but there’s also another part of me that thinks (maybe foolishly) that there are certain scenarios where he’s a good fit. (I’m probably going to express that second part more though just because most everybody else doesn’t view Tract positively and just repeating that won’t add anything new to the conversation.)

From an in game perspective, I think the characteristic that gets Tracy in the most trouble is his constant tinkering. Here I view him as a micromanager who can often do more harm than good. At the same time though, I think the 2011 team exacerbated the most negative qualities of this trait because playing anything other than the “A” lineup was going to result in a total disaster. If the outfield was anything other than Cargo, Dex, and Smith, there was going to be hell to pay either at the plate or in the field (and many times both). If Iannetta had the day off, we’d see a significant dropoff there. If Tulo had the day off, it would wreck the entire lineup by causing several dominos to fall. …ETC… In other words, the 2011 Rockies (who ended up not being very good anyway because of a bunch of other issues) could only be made worse with an in game management style like Tracy’s.

I feel like the 2009 team on the other hand could actually maximize it’s success by not playing it’s best players nearly every single day. (I know that sounds counterintuitive but hear me out.) Since that team had solid depth, a micromanager like Tracy couldn’t really hurt the team all that much by giving five outfielders (Cargo, Dex, Hawpe, Spilly, and Smith) significant playing time. Since the team had two good options at catcher (I realize this is a touchy subject but I couldn’t think of a better way to word it), there was really no wrong answer here, at least not to the level of Eliezer Alfonzo anyway. Since Stewart was pushing Atkins out and still getting his feet under him, allowing Atkins to have some of the PA’s against lefties wasn’t a terrible idea (We also had to make sure he really was heading towards the end of his career). Since Giambi was a good option at the plate, we didn’t lose much by not pushing Helton 100% down the stretch.

Since Tracy could use all these options without any major consequences, splitting up the playing time A) gave us several ways to beat an opponent because all of our pieces were playing on a somewhat regular basis and could be installed at the right moment of any game and B) allowed us to be fresher down the stretch where just playing the best players every single day would have caused some guys to run out of gas. As much as I agree with you that June and July of 2009 was a result of the “Clint Hurdle being gone effect”, I do think Tracy’s management style contributed to some of the success in late August and September – Which brings me back to 2012.

This year’s roster is constructed in such a way that it’s going to require some tinkering to get the most out of it. 3B has Casey Blake with a bunch of other options while waiting for Arenado, OF has Cuddyer with a young Blackmon (and possibly soon Wheeler) waiting to break through, 2B has Scutaro and some stuff that might still be worth throwing at the wall, catcher has the veteran Hernandez and the young gun he can take under his wing in Rosario, SS now has a replacement in Scutaro who can make a day of rest for Tulo not feel so damning, 1B has Helton and Giambi splitting time. All of this is going to take some tinkering to sort out because we really don’t know who the best players are right now. Then, even if Tracy wants to tinker at the end of the season it may still be necessary because the schedule only gives us two off dates in the final 55 days of the season (and this is before a rainout probably sucks one of them up). Guys are going to need rest and Tracy’s tinkering could be a blessing here.

Really, if there was ever a perfect team for Jim Tracy to manage from an in game perspective, it might be this one.

As far as the “in the clubhouse” manager, which seems to be the biggest reason the Rockies like him, it’s really hard to draw a conclusion there because there’s some much (inside the clubhouse) information that we just don’t know.

1) If your idea of spending “EXTRA” money to win (which is such a subjective statement to begin with) is committing even more than the $300 million they’ve poured into just four contracts in a 15 month period, then you’re going to be disappointed in the Rockies because you can probably count the number of teams who do that on one hand, and they are all located in much bigger markets than Denver.

2) There are plenty of other players who found their success in a place where “the spotlight is not quite as glaring” as it is in Boston or new York and chose to wait and hit free agency. In fact, it more the rule than the exception. So the fact the both Cargo and Tulo, each a young superstar in the game, committed to Colorado long before they were near free agency says a lot about the organization.

3) Making winning a top priority and actually winning don’t have to be mutually exclusive, especially not when looking at just one season like 2011. To say that Cargo and Tulo are “young and naive enough to think they can [win] here on a consistent basis” as if they are being tricked into some sort of fallacy is pretty outrageous in my mind. They are intelligent enough to properly evaluate the situation.

4)

The PR spin is that the program is in place to win for years to come with these stars, and clearly fans with purple tinted glasses want to drink that up.

That’s not really PR spin, it’s fact. Unfortunately being in pace to win for years to come with Cargo and Tulo doesn’t mean that there will automatically be several championship flags flying over Coors Field by the end of the decade. Instead it simply menas that the Rockies have a very solid foundation to build off of – And that’s no small feat. The issue is that they still have to finish the development and surround Cargo and Tulo with good players. They failed to do that last season as several pieces turned out to be fool’s gold, hence their recored of 73-89. But it’s not like DOD or Rockies ownership found this acceptable and turned this establishment into a cozy country club atmosphere as you suggest. In fact the opposite has happened as over half the team has been altered in the last seven months. Players who were either unproductive on the field or were seen as road blocks to success in the clubhouse were sent packing. That’s something you do when you are committed to winning and know you have a window of opportunity with this foundation in place.

I’m not trying to say the Rockies are perfect, because they are far from it, and I’m not trying to say there will be guaranteed success over the next few seasons, because there are a lot of unknowns, but I’d bet the house that they are at lesat trying to put a winning product on the field.