Report: Bud Black hired as next Rockies manager
The Colorado Rockies, according to reports, have filled the final open managerial gig in Major League Baseball, deciding to hire veteran skipper Bud Black.
The Rockies haven’t announced the hire yet, but it was first reported by Tommy Stokke of FanRag Sports and confirmed by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and a host of other reporters. Walt Weiss, the previous Rockies manager, resigned after last season, in part due to this strained relationship with Colorado GM Jeff Bridich.
Black, 59, is well respected around baseball despite a lack of success in nine seasons with the San Diego Padres. His record in that time was 649-713, never finishing higher than second place. The Padres, however, didn’t give him a ton of talent to work with from 2007-2015.
Last year, Black was nearly hired by the Washington Nationals for their open manager job that eventually went to Dusty Baker. He was also in the mix for the Atlanta Braves job. In Colorado, Black now inherits a team that was better than expected in 2016, finishing 75-87 with some promising young talent in Trevor Story, David Dahl and Jon Gray, plus All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado.
In Colorado, pitching is always a concern, given the altitude, and Black’s background could be helpful there. He pitched 15 seasons in the big leagues and was the Angels’ pitching coach for seven seasons before taking the Padres’ job. Without a managing job in 2016, Black returned to the Angels as a special assistant to GM Billy Eppler.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
