So, do you think Tony La Russa, Bud Selig and all of the Fox camerapeople are going to be watching Kenny Rogers a little more closely next time he pitches?
Anyway, I titled the post after what seemed to be the dominant theme of Tracy Ringolsby's most recent "mail-blog" as query after query seemed to imply that we have a bad on field manager. True that, but in the end, Hurdle's a small cog in the big machine, as the players are the most important in affecting the day to day outcome of the game, anyway. The second main theme in that particular mailbag was that Dan O'Dowd is a bad GM and the Monforts inept owners. I'm beginning to sense a pattern here. When did Rockies fans become such whiners? These are not useful rants, people. We know the hand we've been dealt here, and for good or ill it includes the Monforts signing the checks, O'Dowd pulling the strings and Hurdle calling the plays. What I would rather see from Rockies fans is a bit more constructive, thoughtful critiques that help point the bigs in charge in the right direction. Like the question about moving Kaz to center, it was a good thought, but our middle infield would be very thin and remain a concern at that point.
Alright, this morning I want to go into who we should target over the winter for back of the rotation depth. Like this Cubs reporter, my first thought in the offseason was St Louis, but now Jeff Suppan's gone and messed that up a bit by performing so well. Mark Mulder's likely out, unless his stock has dropped even farther than expected this season. Jeff Weaver and Jason Marquis aren't nearly as enticing, sorry, so forget the Cardinals. Okay, my next two favorites would be Gil Meche, or Miguel Batista. Maybe Carlos Silva if his option isn't picked up. After that, I think we either have to look at taking a chance on an injury risk like Tomo Ohka, or trade up. The White Sox supposedly have a surplus of starters and are looking to move Freddy Garcia, which would actually be my first choice above all these others if it were true and if it didn't take too much to pry him away. Anyway, your thoughts, as always are welcome.
Update [2006-10-23 13:47:20 by Rox Girl]: More on Hurdle: the other day in the World Series Game One thread I mentioned Chris Jaffe's work on managers and linked to the Wall Street Journal, well Jaffe has since posted another installment at BBTF, showing Clint Hurdle to be the second worst manager between 2000 and 2006 outside of Mike Hargrove, Jaffe's take:
Congratulations are in order. Last year, for the first time ever, Clint Hurdle's team exceeded their projection, with a +5. Huzzahs all around. It only took him five seasons. His previous, er, "best" was four games under. 65% of all teams do better than that. They club announced he'll be back next year. That light mountain air most be getting to the heads of the men who run the Rockies.