Matt Holliday Makes His Case for Rockies to Consider Hiring Notable Executive

Should the Colorado Rockies consider this candidate?

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The Colorado Rockies are in the midst of a search for their new baseball operations leader.

Following the resignation of general manager Bill Schmidt, the Rockies vowed to look at candidates from outside the organization. A change in their thinking and how things were previously set up is needed, and Walker Monfort -- the executive vice president and son of owner Dick Monfort who is leading this search -- has kept that promise.

Three candidates were reportedly interviewed. James Click, the former World Series-winning GM of the Houston Astros, is the headliner. The other two are assistant general managers for their current teams and don't have experience running a front office.

Another name floated at the beginning of the process was Thad Levine, a former Rockies executive from 1999-2005 before he left to become the assistant GM of the Texas Rangers and eventually the GM of the Minnesota Twins.

Matt Holliday Wants Thad Levine to Get Interviewed by Rockies

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According to previous reporting, Levine is not in the interview process with Colorado. That is pretty surprising considering his ties to the Rockies, and it's left former franchise great Matt Holliday to campaign for Levine to at least get a look for this job.

"I love Thad Levine, but I don't know if he'll get an interview," he said, per Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post (subscription required). "But I don't know why he wouldn't."

The second part of Holliday's statement is a thought many people might share. There is real pressure on Monfort to nail this hire, so interviewing as many candidates as possible for the opening seems like it would be the best course of action.

Holliday, who was selected in the seventh round of the 1998 draft out of high school by Colorado, overlapped with Levine while the two were with the organization. The executive joined in 1999 as an assistant director of baseball administration. Holliday didn't reach the big league club until the 2004 season, but there appears to be a relationship between the two based on his comments.

Why Matt Holliday Might Want Rockies to Hire Thad Levine

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Holliday didn't go into specifics on why he believes the Rockies should look into hiring Levine, but another one of his comments to Saunders might give some insight into what he believes this franchise needs to be successful.

"Coors has to be the home-field advantage that it can be and has been in the past," he said. "The Rockies should know the pros and cons, and what works and what doesn't at Coors, better than anybody else. It should be the greatest homefield advantage in the sport."

It's been a while since Levine was part of the Rockies' franchise, and he didn't have much say when it came to building a major league roster and entire organization when he was with Colorado. But he still has experience working with the dynamics of Coors Field.

At this point in time, it doesn't seem like Levine is going to get an interview. But perhaps Holliday's endorsement could get Levine into the process.

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