Bridich On Offseason, Weiss, CarGo

The Rockies are already looking ahead to the offseason, and GM Jeff Bridich is giving some hints about his winter plans with a few different media outlets.  Here’s the latest from the Colorado general manager…

• In an interview with Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (audio link), Bridich said that “everything is on the table” in terms of what the club could do this winter.  This includes “players, how the team looks, how the team gelled together this year.  We had a number of guys injured so we’ll have to make a number of evaluations in terms of those players, do they factor into our future whether they’re young players or veteran guys headed towards free agency.  We’ll evaluate our own process [in the] front office, evaluate the Major League staff and our collective combined process together this year.”
• Manager Walt Weiss’ status for 2016 will be decided after the season.  “We’ll have meetings, sit down and talk and see what the right fit is,” Bridich said.  “This isn’t the time or the place yet to say 100 percent yes or no.  He’s got to have a part in that too and we’re going to let the season play out before we make that final determination.”  A month ago, Weiss said he wanted to return next season, which would be the final year of his three-year contract.
• No big changes are seemingly on the horizon in player acquisition, as “we’ll probably proceed as we have for the last year, which is eyes and ears open and if people want to talk we’re willing to talk.”  Carlos Gonzalez has again become an object of trade speculation given his big season, though Bridich reiterated that the Rockies are in no particular rush to move the star outfielder.  “I think we’ve showed that if we were hellbent on trading Carlos Gonzalez, he would’ve already been gone by now,” the GM said.
• While there’s no magic formula to rebuilding, Bridich told The Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders that he has taken some lessons from how the Pirates and Royals rebuilt their organizations, though he clearly believes Colorado won’t suffer multi-decade struggles like those two teams.  How the Rockies “evaluate, collectively, the available pitching in the industry, might shift a little bit” but Bridich said player development will still be the organization’s prime focus.  “If you are asking if there is going to be massive monetary or financial shifting with us, I would be very surprised if that happens,” he said. “The Pirates didn’t do it that way and neither did the Royals.”
• For more from Bridich, check out the Sept. 4 edition of the MLBTR Podcast when the GM spoke with Jeff Todd.