GJFlash's Blog

The Rockie Road to Ruin

There are so, so many things wrong with the Rockies these days, I really don’t know where to begin. Shall we criticize the ownership? The management? The players? The fans? President Bush?

I’m a manager, by trade, and I am of the school of thought that similar people, with similar skills, in similar situations, will respond in a similar fashion.  Similarily.

The difference maker, in my opinion, is the management of the people involved. The Monforts and their boy wonder Dan O’Dowd are ruining baseball for an entire genRation of Colorado fans of the game, and they must be stopped. They can no longer be trusted to make decisions based on the good of the team, the good of the game, or the good of the fans.

I started to organize my reasons for this conclusion, but as I said, there are so, so many examples of bad decision making by the Rockies organization, it’s hard to know where to begin.

Let’s start with the roster, the actual product, shall we?

By the numbers:

Jersey #1. Jamey Carroll.

Now, I’m not a baseball expert. As a manager, I’m not much of an expert at anything.

A good manager learns to listen to the experts, listen to the facts, and listen to his people. Then he makes good decisions, based on his understanding of the facts as well as his understanding of his people.

I didn’t make any judgments when Jamey was acquired from the Nationals, I listened to his Coach, Frank Robinson (if you’re familiar with baseball you might have heard the name):

From the Washington Nationals’ Official Website:

Whenever a reporter asked Nationals manager Frank Robinson about Carroll, the skipper's face would light up and he would always say, "Every team needs a Jamey Carroll." Robinson admired the fact that Carroll, 32, was the most fundamentally sound player on the team, never complained about playing time and produced on the field when he played.

"I'm going to miss Jamey very much," Robinson said. "What he did for me for three-plus years, you couldn't ask for anything more. I don't know what I'm going to do without him. You can't find Jamey Carrolls every day. It's not just what he brings to the field, it's the type of person that he is.

"You can't find that combination of a player, who has the will to do whatever it takes to help the team and keep himself ready. He is not a problem on the ballclub. In three-plus years, he has never complained about lack of playing time or being taken out for a pinch-hitter."

As Frank Robinson knows a bit more about the game than I do, I will listen to him.

Now, resumes and references are one thing, but performance is quite another.

A few games in to the 2006 season, Mr. Carrol became the everyday second baseman for your Colorado Rockies. Let’s look at his performance in 2006:

In 136 games played, Jamey had 463 at-bats, and ended the season with a .300 average (that is very, very good in baseball averages).

He also led team with 22 infield hits and tied for team lead with 10 steals. In baseball we call that "hustle", and it is a trait that can rarely be taught.

How is Jamey at fielding? I read that he led ALL National league second basemen in fielding percentage last year, and was duly impressed.  Until I read that he was second in fielding percentage in ALL OF BASEBALL last year. 

That would make him the Rockies’ version of Champ Bailey.

Now, this is a guy that, statistically, is one of the best players in the game. Add to those statistics the comments of Mr. Robinson. Now, if I’m managing the Rockies organization, I have to like Jamey Carrol at second base. I would be an idiot not to.

I’m not knocking on Kaz Matsui. We got a potentially great player at a bargain basement price. The key word here is POTENTIALLY. The Rockies didn’t go shopping for a POTENTIALLY good first baseman, did they? Or a POTENTIALLY good left fielder? At ANY Price?

Jamey Carroll rides the bench most days, and his average has dropped to under .200 (bench players usually hit .130 or so). I have yet to read of him complaining to the media, so I am happy to do so on his behalf.

I was going to make this the first of a 25-part series, but I believe my point is made.

It’s time for some new management.

FoR the team.

FoR the fans of Colorado baseball.