It’s official! Walt Weiss to manage the Colorado Rockies - MLB Update
It’s final now, after weeks of speculation and discussion over various names, the Colorado Rockies introduced Walt Weiss as their new manager on Friday. The new manager inherits a team that hit the lowest ebb of the franchise’s history with a 64-98 record
that saw ex-manager Jim Tracy resign.
Weiss has previously been associated with the team first as a player and then as a special assistant to the general manager Dan O’Dowd from 2002 to 2008. The soon-to-turn 49-year-old has been provided with a one year contract, unlike the norm of offering
multiple year deals in the Major League. For the last one year, he has been coaching the Regis Jesuit High School, with some success.
Walt was not bothered by the length of the contract and saw it as an opportunity to once again prove himself, this time as a manager. "It's really a non-issue," he said, "Like a player and until he gets into the part of his career where he gets a multiyear
deal, those are some of the stripes I have to earn.”
The former shortstop played in the Major League for 14 seasons. His career ended with the Atlanta Braves after the 2000 season. Weiss was a favourite with the Rockies’ crowds during his four year association with the team and still commends their support
and respect. He had tough competition with current Rockies’ bench coach Tom Runnells, star batter Jason Giambi and Arizona Diamondbacks’ third base coach Matt Williams, who were all formally interviewed for the job.
Rockies’ management was confident that they were getting a manager of Major League standard and did not fit the bill of a typical high school coach. These sentiments were expressed by Bill Geivett, the Rockies’ senior vice president for Major League operations.
Bill was impressed by the understanding of the game Walt has and was looking forward to him performing as a high standard manager.
"We were sitting and discussing very difficult and complex issues as a Major League manager and how we'd deal with players," he said "With the questions coming at him, to watch him think and respond, you'd really think more along the lines of being with
a more experienced Major league manager.”
The new manager has a lot on his plate at the moment. He has a young and inexperienced pitching unit, issues with players’ fitness and some offensive players who can be quite exciting but still need to show consistency. Weiss will be looking to work exceptionally
hard with his new team.
The team’s 2012 regular season was the worst in the club’s history and the decline has been consistent the last three years. The club made their last post-season appearance in 2009 and in order to get back to that, the team and the new manager will have
to give it their absolute best in the time to come.
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