Rockies Considering Hiring Exiled Manager Back in New Role

The Colorado Rockies and their former manager may not be done with each other a month after they parted ways.

May 11, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black (10) during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

It's possible that Colorado Rockies fans have not seen the last of former manager Bud Black.

The Rockies fired Black on May 11 after a 7-33 start to the season. It ended a managerial tenure that lasted more than eight years and saw him go 544-690 in 1,234 games managed.

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He had the most success early in his career, leading the Rockies to a pair of National League wild card playoff berths in 2017 and 2018. But since then, Colorado had not finished a season with a winning record.

Warren Schaeffer is the interim manager, and Colorado is pointed toward a full managerial search after the season. It’s possible that new manager may inherit Black as a staff member.

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The departure of Steve Foster to become Texas Tech’s pitching coach has created an opening as the Rockies’ director of pitching. That position manages pitching across the organization. Colorado’s pitching coach is Darryl Scott.

Per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, one of the strongest candidates to replace Foster is Black, who per Nightengale has told friends that he’s not done with baseball, even as he nears his 68th birthday.

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While it might be a weird move, bringing back a manager who was unceremoniously fired a month ago, the move would appeal to Black’s background as a Major League pitcher and pitching coach.

Before Black was hired to be the manager of the San Diego Padres for the 2007 season, he was the pitching coach for the Los Angeles Angels from 2000-06 under manager Mike Scioscia. He helped tutor a pitching staff that won the 2002 World Series over the San Francisco Giants. He also guided Bartolo Colón in his 2005 American League Cy Young season.

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In between managerial stints, he did return to the Angels as a special assistant to the general manager.

Black spent 15 years in the Majors as a pitcher, breaking in with the Seattle Mariners in 1981 and he pitched with the Kansas City Royals, the Cleveland Guardians, the San Francisco Giants and the Toronto Blue Jays. He went 121-116 with a 3.84 ERA in 398 games (296 starts), with 1,039 strikeouts and 639 walks in 2,053.1 innings.

He won a World Series ring with the Royals in 1985.

As a manager he is 1,193-1,403 in 18 seasons, as he went 649-713 with San Diego from 2007-15.

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