It did not come as a complete shock, but when the Tweet hit this morning that Dan O’Dowd had resigned, it signaled Dick Monfort’s desire to make big changes immediately. O’Dowd’s 15-year tenure with the Colorado Rockies ends sadly with only four winning seasons and a World Series cup of coffee against the rocket fueled Red Sox in 2007. O’Dowd was the fourth longest tenured GM behind only Billy Beane, Brian Cashman and Brian Sabean. That is quite an illustrious list of talented GMs.

Assistant GM Bill Geivett is also leaving the team. From the looks of the press release and Monfort’s quotes, it reads like Dan and Bill were the problem. The answer is to put Jeff Bridich, the player development executive in charge. This writer tends to not agree with this decision. It’s something bigger that might not be solved with an executive house cleaning. It might have to be solved with a redefinition of strategy. 

Back in May, O’Dowd was being praised for his costless agency signings, homegrown talent and veteran bats. After a 22-14 start, O’Dowd was polishing his 2007 NL Championship trophy and clearing the shelf for another one. Charlie Blackmon, Corey Dickerson and Nolan Arenado were having break-out seasons. Then the wheels expectedly fell off. Brett Anderson and Tyler Chatwood hit the DL, Carlos Gonzalez made his annual pilgrimage to the surgeon, Troy Tulowitzki extended his summer vacation through September and the red hot May became the depressing dog days.

It’s clear to most Rockie fans and NL fantasy enthusiasts that the team has a health issue. Every starting infielder hit the 15-day DL at least once in 2014. The entire starting pitching staff that tore through the early season schedule, hit the DL, Anderson and Chatwood never returned. The bullpen was a disaster and the team finished 2014 with a 4.84 ERA.  No team can win with an ERA that high, especially when the average NL ERA for 2014 was 3.66. As a comparison point, in 2001 when the ball was juiced and Barry Bonds was hitting the ball out of the yard every 6.5 at bats, the National League team ERA average was 4.36. Not surprisingly the Rockies were at 5.29 that year. It’s not shocking that top pitching costless agents avoid the money of Denver.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that pitching is the problem in Colorado, but let’s look at another hypothesis. Players just can’t stay healthy. No opening day starting line-up turned over more than the Rockies. No other opening day starting pitching staff was debilitated more than the Rockies. The team training staff of Keith Dugger, Scott Gehret and Scott Murayama are all pros. Keith Dugger, the head trainer for the Rockies, is considered one of the best trainers in the game, even receiving the 2003 Major League “Training Staff of the Year” accolades. Scott Murayama, the team’s lead rehabilitation coordinator should be given the Florence Nightingale award for his annual emergency room rigor.

It’s amazing how devastating the injuries are in Denver. Carlos Gonzalez was even quoted earlier this year that it might be the altitude of Denver. No one will admit it, and heck the engorged batting stats of Coors Field still make the Rockies an attractive place for costless agent bats. Though it’s something that needs to be addressed. How can the Rockies fix this mess? Let’s explore some very viable options.

First, let’s suggest a change to the way this team builds its pitching staff. It should be considered a very viable option to have a six or seven man rotation, especially for home pitching. The team had a 5.05 ERA at home, that’s just unacceptable. Pitch the aces on the road and let the bullpen be a bigger part of the home games. Anything to relieve the DL potential of pitching in Denver. Shorter starts and a deeper bullpen may just be the answer.

Second, and most importantly, the humidor is broken. It’s very clear that Rockies pitchers and visiting pitchers all feel the difference on their stat lines after a game at Coors. It’s painful. Let’s get a new humidor or figure out a way to make pitches work. The “Ackerman and Knox” model for atmospheric pressure talks about the fact that Coors Field has about 15% less air density than most major-league stadiums. Actually the 20th row of seats in the upper deck of Coors is exactly one mile above sea level. So yes, there is a problem with the stadium and the location. Figure out how to pitch in this cloud.

What pitches work with less friction, less air molecules? None. Fastballs are slower, curves don’t curve and knuckles don’t knuckle. Do cutters cut? No clue, but by looking at Jorge De La Rosa’s pitch values, his splitter is now 27% of his pitches and his wFS/C is at 2.10. Let’s not forget that De La Rosa was the best starting pitcher at Coors this year with a 3.08 ERA and 10 wins. To compare that to other team aces who throw the splitter, only Iwakuma, Elias, Samardzija and Kuroda are in positive territory. The splitter looks like it splits in Coors.

Third and most importantly, there needs to be another approach to injuries. Less at bats in Denver, more on the road? A new training facility? This can’t be that difficult but for whatever reason the Rockies seem to be getting hurt more often and for longer periods of time.

Fourth, and probably the most unconventional approach is to change the way you play the game in Denver. Use the shift, protect your pitchers, deeper bullpen, or change the shape of the stadium, anything that changes the dynamic of playing in Colorado. The hill in the outfield in Houston, higher fences like AT&T, Marlins left center field, anything to reduce the hitting. No stadium gives up more home runs to left center than Coors. Seems simple. Maybe even increase the foul ball territory to get cheaper outs. It’s fixable.

Sure turning over your executives is the soup du jour of 2014. Fine maybe it’s time to clean house, but when you promote your player development executive to the big job, he better have the resume of growing talent. Only five of Bridich’s signings are on Baseball America’s Top Prospect 100 list, Jonathon Gray, Eddie Butler David Dahl, Kyle Freeland and Rosell Herrera. It’s time to rethink the whole thing and make a dramatic change to the Rockies. This doesn’t seem to be the answer.