We all knew Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez were never going to be traded. Trading guys like that don’t happen until the offseason. Plus, Tulowitzki is on the disabled list, and Gonzalez is nursing an ankle injury again.
Still, it is surprising guys like LaTroy Hawkins, Jorge De La Rosa, Matt Belisle and several others are still on the Rockies. One would think either of those guys would have value in the trade deadline last weekend. It never happened. The Rockies did not make a trade. Pity those guys who are stuck on a 44-68 team that is on pace to lose 100 games this season.
The trade inactivity should make Rockies fans wonder who’s in charge of the baseball operations. That’s an issue for the Rockies moving forward. It’s clear Rockies assistant general manager Bill Geivett is not in charge since Rockies owner Dick Monfort blamed him for the problems going on with the team’s baseball operations. It won’t be long until he is fired since someone has to be fired for this bad season. As for Dan O’Dowd, he is not even around the team’s offices anymore.
This is a problem other general managers in baseball have with the Rockies. They don’t know who to talk to from the Rockies when it comes to making trades.
It’s hard to believe O’Dowd is in charge. If he was, he would have at least made some trades last week. He is not the general manager that would do nothing. There was a reason he was Trader Dan in his first few years as Rockies general manager. He always made trades to make the roster better. He is a dumb general manager, but even he knows he should try to get value for his guys just to make this team better for the future.
So who’s in charge? That’s an interesting question. It sure looks like Rockies owner Dick Monfort is in charge of the whole baseball operation, and that’s a problem for the Rockies.
Monfort has no clue about baseball. That was evident when he once said Dan O’Dowd is the best general manager in baseball, not to mention he said acquiring an injured Brett Anderson is like the Broncos acquiring Peyton Manning. He even said he does not know any people in the baseball industry. That’s all you need to know about this inept owner.
Plus, owners have no business playing general manager. They don’t know how to scout talent. They don’t know the realities of how hard it is to play baseball in a long season.
Monfort thought he could alleviate the problem by taking a bigger role, and it was a disaster all around. He did not want to trade guys like Hawkins, Belisle, De La Rosa and others for sentimental reasons. That’s not a way to run a baseball operation.
Belisle is a lost cause now. After being overworked for years now, it’s hard to believe he will be a great reliever. The Rockies should have tried to get something for him. Even if that player would not pan out, the Rockies at least can see what value that person has out there.
De La Rosa is not coming back. He is going to want a big payday after his good work the last two years. No one can blame him. Teams overpay starters since there is so much supply and demand for guys like De La Rosa. The Rockies are not going to do that at his age, and they struggled to get a deal done with him last year since they cited his injuries.
Talk about how the Rockies ace loves pitching in Colorado and all, but one has to think he loves pitching for a team that can play in October. A guy like him shouldn’t have low standards of pitching for a team that is going nowhere anytime soon.
The Rockies should have gotten value for their ace. No, they were never going to get prized prospects, but at least, they can get something rather than see their ace leave in the offseason and the Rockies having nothing for him.
It’s remarkable everyone stayed when one looks at this team. Hard to understand why there was no value. This was not the 1927 Yankees team that was going to be broken up.
This franchise is a mess. That goes without saying. We can get angry about the losses. We can get worked up about the Rockies misspelling the name of their own players. We can wonder why guys are rewarded for incompetence. We can wonder why the team’s social media folks would make fun of Hawkins’ age in response to Jim Rome taunting Hawkins’ longevity in baseball last night.
Until Monfort understands he can’t be running a baseball operation, it’s going to be the same old story every year.
One would think Monfort gets it after seven years. He hasn’t, and it’s hard to believe he will. Why would when he is the owner and he can do anything he wants?
Woe is the Rockies. Woe is everyone.
Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro: @LightRodWriter
Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
