Rockies owner Dick Monfort wanted to extend Walt Weiss' contract, per report

Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort made a last-ditch effort to retain Walt Weiss as manager at the end of the season, according to Jon Heyman of Today's Knuckleball.

Weiss, whose strained relationship with general manager Jeff Bridich got to the point where it "wasn't healthy or productive," per Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post, reportedly told Monfort something to the effect of "there's no way we can go on like this," Heyman noted. Monfort, somewhat surprisingly, didn't intervene much beyond that and ultimately sided with Bridich and his desire to move on from Weiss.

More from Heyman:

[Weiss] was originally the surprise untested choice of former GM Dan O'Dowd but people around the situation say he never was able to form a bond with Bridich, who by the end was mostly communicating through pitching coaches Steve Foster and Darren Holmes, people say. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post first mentioned the Weiss-Bridich relationship as a potential reason Weiss may not make it back for 2017, and that proved correct. "They never got along," one Rockies person said. Weiss has suggested to people he was unnecessarily kept out of the loop on what went on with the Rockies, which wouldn't make him unique as a manger, though such a belief of non-inclusion certainly can hurt such a relationship.

One of the things Weiss was disappointed in was the Rockies' failure to acquire shortstop Zack Cozart from the Cincinnati Reds after Trevor Story was lost for the season, per Heyman. Cozart, who hit .252/.308/.425 while playing well-above-average defense in 2016, was nearly acquired by the Seattle Mariners at the deadline and ended up a potential waiver trade candidate but never moved.

There are two big takeaways from Heyman's report. First, this should be considered another feather in the autonomy cap for Bridich. If it was up to Monfort, there's a good chance everyone in the organization would be retained year after year regardless of performance. The club's decision on Weiss aligns with the Tulo trade -- as well as Bridich's assertion that he will have no constraints from ownership when it comes to hiring a new manager -- in terms of examples suggesting who really runs the baseball side of the show at 20th and Blake.

Second, Bridich clearly wants to hire a manager whose vision matches his. Given the Harvard grad's efforts in building the club's analytical department, insistence on employing shifts, and other things of non-traditional nature, it could very well be that Bridich isn't full of it when he says that the team will consider external options. That's especially clear when looking at the potential in-house options, most of whom fit a more traditional mold than perhaps Bridich would like.

One thing is for sure: now, more than ever, it appears there's a new sheriff in town. This should excite you.