Success lies in the hands of Dan O’Dowd

November 16th, 2009 | by wutae3 |

Last week, Dan O’Dowd was named the Major League executive of the year by Sporting News. His off-season moves and in-season decisions helped the Rockies reach the postseason for the second time in three years. It seemed O’Dowd made all of the right moves at a time when the Rockies needed some leadership at the top.

It all started during the off-season when O’Dowd traded Matt Holiday to the Oakland A’s for prized prospect Carlos Gonzalez, closer Huston Street and lefty Greg Smith. CarGo and Street played huge roles for the Rockies this past season and helped guide the Rox into the playoffs. O’Dowd also traded for Jason Marquis to bolster a depleted rotation. Marquis returned the favor by earning an All-Star berth and stabilizing the rotation. Jason Hammel came from Tampa Bay in a trade and locked down the fifth spot in the rotation and won 10 games for the Rockies.

At the end of May, O’Dowd made the biggest move of the season. With the Rockies 10 games below .500, O’Dowd fired Clint Hurdle, and replaced him with Jim Tracy. Tracy went on to win 74 games and lead the Rockies into the postseason. That move alone helped O’Dowd win executive of year.

As the season progressed, O’Dowd added Rafael Betancourt, Joe Beimel and Jose Contreras to strengthen an injured bullpen. Towards the end of the season, O’Dowd added Jason Giambi to the roster to bring a dangerous bat off the bench. All of the moves that he made helped the Rox capture the Wild Card.

While it is easy to look at the 2009 season as a success, it all began back in 1999 when O’Dowd took over as General Manager. When he came to the Rockies, O’Dowd made some unpopular moves that made him an easy target for criticism. He traded away fan favorite Dante Bichette and later traded veteran players Darryl Kile and Vinny Castilla. While the moves made fans mad, the Rox finished with an 82-80 record in 2000. O’Dowd followed the success of the season by signing two marquee pitchers, Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle. However, neither pitcher worked out and their signings changed everything.

Rockies ownership was bit by the signings of Hampton and Neagle and decided to go in a new direction. O’Dowd decided to build the farm system that was ignored for many years under Bob Gebhard. The results of the new approach did not show initially but eventually worked out for the Rockies. In 2007, Colorado produced one of the most magical seasons in major league history. It became known as Rocktober. While the Rockies lost to Boston in the World Series, the foundation was laid and all of the hard work from O’Dowd paid off.

Dan

Many fans in Colorado have always had mixed emotions about O’Dowd. However, I have never placed the blame on O’Dowd for the Rockies failures before 2007. O’Dowd has always been at a disadvantage – he has owners that don’t want to spend money. He has always had to be a miracle worker during free agency. His creativity has helped the Rockies find diamonds in the rough year after year. But the biggest splash O’Dowd has made has been in the draft. Colorado has drafted many important players that have helped the Rockies become a legitimate team. They have one of the strongest farm systems in all of the baseball and it shows with the amount of homegrown talent they have on their 40-man roster.

O'Dowd

The one fault O’Dowd has had during his reign as GM has been his loyalty. He stuck with Clint Hurdle for too long but finally fired his good friend in May. However, O’Dowd’s biggest flaw is also a strength in a cutthroat business. While 2009 will be known as the year O’Dowd won executive of the year, he started the whole process the day he became the GM of the Rockies. He made mistakes along the way but learned from them and built the Rockies into a contender without the assistance of large pockets from the owners.

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Share and Enjoy: