Rockies quickly reward Manager of the Year with 3-year contract extension

Just minutes after Jim Tracy was named Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America, the Rockies announced that they’ve agreed to terms with the award-winning skipper on a new three-year contract extension. Tracy is now under contract through 2012 and his entire coaching staff will return for next season after the team went from last place in May to the Wild Card winners following a 74-42 run with him at the helm. Colorado is Tracy’s third managerial job. He took over for Davey Johnson as Dodgers manager in 2001 and went 427-383 (.527) with one playoff appearance in five seasons before being replaced by Grady Little, and then went 135-189 (.417) during two years in Pittsburgh. Of course, being fired twice before is hardly noteworthy for a big-league manager. Five of the previous dozen Manager of the Year winners were fired within two years of receiving the award and the man who Tracy replaced this season, Clint Hurdle, was let go less than two seasons after taking the Rockies to the World Series in 2007. Hurdle finished third in the Manager of the Year balloting that year, with Bob Melvin of the Diamondbacks winning the award. Melvin was fired 191 games later.