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Sources: Rockies add Tracy to coaching staff

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 17, 2008 at 9:25 p.m.

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Jim Tracy, former manager of the Pirates and Dodgers, has been added to the Rockies coaching staff as bench coach.

Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images

Jim Tracy, former manager of the Pirates and Dodgers, has been added to the Rockies coaching staff as bench coach.

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Former major league manager Jim Tracy has accepted the bench coach job with the Rockies, who have filled three of the four openings on their staff. Club officials declined to comment, saying they would announce all the hirings at the same time.

But the Rockies have decided on Tracy to handle the bench job, organizational pitching coach Jim Wright to be the bullpen coach and organizational infield instructor Rich Dauer as the third base coach, according to major league sources.

The hitting coach job has come down to former Rockies manager Don Baylor and former Rockies first baseman Greg Colbrunn.

Colbrunn, who originally signed as a catcher, might have an edge because he could work with the catchers. Tracy is a former outfielder and Dauer is a former infielder.

After making only two coaching changes the five previous offseasons, the staff of manager Clint Hurdle is undergoing a major shake-up.

The Rockies did not renew the contracts of bullpen coach Rick Matthews and bench coach Jamie Quirk, who had been on the staff for six years, third base coach Mike Gallego, a four-year member, and hitting coach Alan Cockrell, who held the job for two years.

Tracy managed the Dodgers from 2001 to 2005 and the Pirates in 2006 and 2007. He also was a bench coach for Felipe Alou in Montreal (1995 to 1998) and for two years with the Dodgers before replacing manager Davey Johnson.

He has close ties to Rockies vice president of player personnel Bill Geivett, a former minor league director in Montreal when Tracy managed in the Expos system, and also a Dodgers assistant general manager when he was hired to manage them.

Dauer has spent three seasons in the Rockies' minor league system after spending three years as a bench coach with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was a third base coach for Kansas City from 1997 to 2002 and was third base coach in Cleveland in 1990 and 1991, when Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd was in the Indians front office.

Wright has spent 12 years in the Rockies organization, including as the major league pitching coach in 2002. He has been the organization's roving pitching instructor the past six years.

Baylor was the Rockies first manager (1993 to 1998) and developed a close relationship with Hurdle when he was promoted from minor league hitting instructor to Baylor's staff.

Colbrunn platooned with first baseman Todd Helton at the start of the 1998 season before Colbrunn was traded to Atlanta.

Comments

  • November 18, 2008

    12:34 a.m.

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    avsfan71085 writes:

    Interesting...Baylor and Tracy huh? I at least applaud the signings of smart assistant coaches even though I completely disagree with the extensions of certain skippers.

  • November 18, 2008

    4:36 a.m.

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    ColoradoSportsFaninTexas writes:

    Could this be the beginning of the end for Hurdle?? If the Rox struggle again this year, it could very well be that we will see either Baylor or Tracy as the next Manager of the Rockies...My money would be on Baylor getting the hitting instructor position, and on standby as Hurdle's replacement...

    Random thought....Could the Rox entice Helton to start considering taking a position within the organization, such as roving hitting instructor, starting next year?? You know...just in case he cant return from his surgery??

  • November 18, 2008

    7:38 a.m.

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    The_KIMN_Chicken writes:

    Yeah a 15 million a year roving hitting instructor, sure.

  • November 18, 2008

    7:42 a.m.

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    craig7078 writes:

    Tracy is one of the few managers in baseball worse than Hurdle so it figures he would ge the bench coach poition.

  • November 18, 2008

    8 a.m.

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    TruthHurts writes:

    If the Rockies ever have the stomach for a real manager they should look no further than Davey Johnson.....some things are just worth putting up with........and I am sure he is very difficult for a front office but he does produce winners.

  • November 18, 2008

    8:56 a.m.

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    cofan17 writes:

    TruthHurts, I completely agree. The owners would hate him after about 5 minutes, but he is exactly the type of manager the Rox need to get.

  • November 18, 2008

    11:49 a.m.

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    arvada_mark writes:

    I don't think the front office is after a top knotch manager. We had one in Leyland. He quit becasue the Brothers Monfort were too cheap to go get any free agent talent. They blew their wad on his salary. Nobody talks about it, but I've read a couple interviews with Leyland in which they ask him about his days here. He has nothing nice to say about the "mediocraty is acceptable" attitude in the clubhouse. In Hurdle, the Brothers Monfort have a low cost, servicable manager. And package him together with O'Dowd, & you have the makings of a Brothers Monfort Ready Pak. Besides, we could have went after Pinella, Torre, what's his name in Tampa...I can't remeber off the top of my head..he was with the Angels. Anyway, they've had plenty of opportunities to bring in a manager that will light a fire under these players, but they like the package deal they already have. And they have given us no reason to expect any different. Welcome to Mediocre-ville where the baseball is played for fun, not championships & a beer will run you $7.

  • November 18, 2008

    12:23 p.m.

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    NorCalGuy writes:

    Tracy? Johnson? Baylor? Ugh! Talk about the good old boy network. The Rockies don't have a culture of winning, yet, maybe never. Their advanced A ball manager (Jerry Weinstein) is better than most of those old school types, it's a shame he's not 10 years younger. They've had just a few good years in their entire franchise history. With baseball you have to hope your young players produce before they become arbitration and free agent eligible. You then try to induce them into below market extensions and get rid of them for other players if they won't play along (Holliday, Atkins). It's not rocket science...but you have to get lucky like the Rays did this year and A's in years past. Talk about young and cheap, the Rays should be good for a while. At least I can see Matt Holliday play for part of the season at the Coliseum.

  • November 19, 2008

    3:15 p.m.

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    RenegadeLG writes:

    Bringing Don Baylor back would be worse than when the Raiders brought back Art Shell. It would make more sense to lock up Colbrunn as he actually could hit as a player.

    The fact that Bob Apodaca still has a job makes everything else moot though. The organization is still rotten-cored joke.

  • November 19, 2008

    3:25 p.m.

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    LockeRobster writes:

    "It would make more sense to lock up Colbrunn as he actually could hit as a player."

    Yeah, the career stats for Colbrunn just DWARF what Don Baylor did. That's a pretty silly comment. You can knock Baylor's ability as a manager or hitting instructor if you like, but he was FAR more productive as a player than Colbrunn. It's not even close.

  • November 21, 2008

    11:05 p.m.

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    bookmark54 writes:

    Yes, Baylor was a MUCH better player. But he was a poor manager. And so was Tracy. This is so disappointing. I hope neither becomes Rockies manager after they fire Clint - or we're in for several more years of losing.

    I like either Colbrunn or Wynegar as hitting coach. Either could / should replace Hurdle in 2010. For what it's worth, I think they should've kept both Lansford and Gallego (Mike made visible progress as 3B coach and doubled as infield instructor with excellent results) and fired Apodaca (look at all the 1st and 2nd inning runs the pitchers gave up last year - plus poor performances all around in 2008 from prospects and veteran pitchers who ALL should've performed better) but Bob is Clint's buddy... so he'll probably stay until they kick Clint out when the attendance and profits drop dramatically. At the rate they're going, it shouldn't be very long...