Rockies scapegoat longtime Dodgers laughingstock Bud Black after miserable 2025 start

Bud Black has been an enemy of the Los Angeles Dodgers throughout the entirety of his 18-year managerial tenure. He spent nine years with the Padres and even led them to a .556 season in 2010 (a year the Dodgers finished fourth in the NL West), but that was a high that he'd never see again. San Diego had losing records for all of Black's last five years there, and he was fired in June 2015, when the Padres were 32-33, which actually paved the way for Dave Roberts' managerial debut as he managed the team on the same day Black was fired. Roberts then spoiled Black's chances of getting the lead job with the Dodgers later that year.

But Black has probably spent his first 40 games with the Rockies this year wishing their record looked that close to .500. The 2025 Colorado Rockies are barreling toward the wrong side of history, with a 7-33 start that's even worse than last year's White Sox's.

The Dodgers rolled into Denver in mid-April and swept, but nothing could compare to the 21-0 beating the Rockies took at the hands of Black's former Padres on Saturday.

Miraculously, the Rockies actually picked up their seventh win of the season against the Padres on Sunday to avoid a sweep, but it wasn't enough to save Black. The Rockies fired him after the game, in his ninth season with the club.

Rockies fire longtime manager and Dodgers punching bag Bud Black after historically bad 7-33 start

To be as fair as possible to Black, he can only do so much with what he has, and he's had little control over what he's been given. Rockies owner Dick Monfort is widely despised within his own fanbase, and the front office's best-known but certainly not best-loved moves of this decade are trading Nolan Arenado and signing Kris Bryant. Despite two winning seasons to begin his managerial career in Denver, Black hasn't been dealt a winning hand since.

The Rockies needed someone to blame though, so they blamed Black. Sure, the guy isn't completely blameless, but it's deeply unlikely (near impossible) that his successor sees any more success when there's clearly no interest from the front office in taking accountability or working behind-the-scenes to improve the roster.

It wouldn't be entirely surprising if Black just retires after this. Before his dismissal, he was baseball's fifth longest-tenured manager with his current team after Kevin Cash, Roberts, Brian Snitker, and Torey Lovullo, and he has the worst record of any of them, so the Rockies certainly haven't set him up for success in any future job interviews.

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