Rockies manager Bud Black, who is entering the final year of his contract, has begun talks with owner Dick Monfort about a possible extension, according to a report Sunday by MLB.com.
No deal has been reached, but signing Black to an extension through 2025 would ensure he wouldn’t work the 2024 season as a “lame-duck” manager.
Black, 66, is entering his eighth season with Colorado. He took the Rockies to playoffs in 2017 and ’18, marking the first time in franchise history that the team went to the postseason in back-to-back years. The Rockies, however, have endured five consecutive losing seasons and lost 103 games last season, the first time the club had ever lost 100 or more games.
Late last season, Black said that despite five difficult seasons, he was still enthused about his job and committed to turning around the Rockies’ fortunes.
“All the years that I’ve had in this game — the championship seasons, the playoff seasons, and on the other end the tougher seasons — you learn from all of them as a teacher, as a coach, as a manager,” Black said. “You have to treat them all the same, with a lot of respect, regardless of how they’ve gone. It’s something we talk to the coaches about, the consistency of leadership.”
When Black was hired before the 2017 season, he signed a three-year deal with a mutual option for the 2020 season. In 2019, he signed a three-year extension for 2020-22, and he then signed one-year extensions in 2022 and 2023 to avoid heading into a season as a lame duck.
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In seven seasons with Colorado, Black has a 476-556 record and .461 winning percentage, which ranks fourth in franchise history behind Jim Tracy (294-308, .488), Don Baylor (440-469, .484) and Buddy Bell (161-185, .465).
Black, a left-hander who pitched parts of 15 seasons in the majors, was the pitching coach for the Angels from 2000-06 and helped them win a World Series. He managed the Padres from 2007-15 but was fired 65 games into the 2015 season. His record with the Padres was 649-713 (.477).
Black was named National League manager of the year in 2010 when he led San Diego to a 90-72 record and second place in the National League West. He was a finalist for manager of the year with the Rockies in 2017 and ’18.
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