A Word About Dan O'Dowd

One of the overlooked heroes of this year's Rockies Playoff team, was the master architect, Dan O'Dowd, just completing his 10th year as General Manager. After unsuccessfully trying for the first few years to acquire free agent pitching to be successful, he turned to another method, building a nucleus of young players from within, knowing it would take a few years to come to reality, and as they reached free agent status, he would have others coming up behind them as they moved on. This was a formula that had been successful in other mid-market towns, notably in Pittsburgh for a short time in the late 80's and early 90's.

One factor that wasn't O'Dowd's idea was the Humidor which came to Coors Field in 2002 and had a positive affect on the pitching. Runs and Home Runs were reduced. At the same time, O'Dowd seemed to search for pitchers who could throw sinkerballs effectively which resulted in more ground balls than before. The Rockies also had heavy investment in the Latin baseball program resulting in some successful acquisions like Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales and Manuel Corpas.

Probably the most important think O'Dowd has to do is create the chemistry of the parts. When Brad Penny was available in August, the Rockies reportedly quickly passed on him because of his reputation in the clubhouse not being a good fit. On the other hand, adding Jason Giambi gave a big boost to the players not only with his bat but his demeanor with his teammates and in the Clubhouse, as evidenced by his enthusiasm in the dugout seen during the games. You can have all the great talent in the world, but it doesn't always win for you.

O'Dowd has also taken his lumps via criticism of his trades. Many of his early trades were for young talent that would need to be developed. The only trade of consequence in the first few years was the Acquisition of Brian Fuentes and 2 other players from the Mariners in the winter of 2001-02. Many of the other trades were stepping stones to build the eventual competitive club.

Omar Quintanilla was the first of the current players that was traded for in July, 2005 along with Eric Byrnes for Joe Kennedy and Jay Witasik. In December of that O'Dowd picked up a backup catcher Yorvit Torrealba from the Mariners for Marcos Carvajal.

Last winter Jason Marquis was acquired from the Cubs for Luis Vizcaino.

Probably the most controversial trade O'Dowd has ever made came last Winter. Matt Holliday was heading into his final year before free agency, and Holliday and his agent Scott Boros, who is known for not agreeing to deals before free agency, never counteroffer a potential 4 year deal O'Dowd had offered the year before. It was apparent to me that Holliday's value would never be higher than it was last winter. Waiting until the trade deadline this year would have been risky. So O'Dowd did what he needed to do, despite knowing that he and the owners, the Monfort Brothers would be roundly criticized for it. Two of the three players immediately made huge contributions to the team. Huston Street has become a lights out closer and Carlos Gonzalez has a huge role in this year's offense, and the trade was somewhat Vindicated as the fans last weekend gave Holliday a mixed reception last weekend, when he first visited Coors Field in a visitor's uniform.

In the postseason clinching game 13 players participated--12 of them were home grown--drafted by the Rockies and brought up through their system. That's a testament to the strong scouting, and minor-league development and General Managers staff that O'Dowd has put together over his 10 year tenure.

There will be more controversial trades coming up possibly after this year's season ends, but there's one thing O'Dowd should do tomorrow, before the playoffs start--Extend Jim Tracy's contract beyond this season. He has proven he deserves a couple years to see if he can build on this season.