Despite finishing with the worst record in the National League West, the Colorado Rockies will retain Walt Weiss as their manager through next season, per Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal.
Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich confirmed the news later on in the night.
"We will be having ongoing meetings/discussions, but I will say this for now: Walt and I met for several hours today about the season and how we can get better with him back in 2016," Bridich said, per MLB.com's Thomas Harding. "It's going well, and we will continue to meet."
Weiss added that he still has "a lot to discuss with Jeff, but I will be back."
The 51-year-old finished his third year with the team. Since replacing Jim Tracy ahead of the 2013 season, he has compiled a 208-278 record.
Given the manager's record, Keith Olbermann believes this decision shows a lack of ambition by the Rockies:
While Weiss' resume is far from impressive, he doesn't deserve the entirety of the blame for the franchise's recent malaise. SEC Network's Peter Burns alluded to the systemic issues that have plagued Colorado at the top:
The Monfort brothers (Dick and Charlie) haven't invested the money necessary to turn the Rockies into contenders overnight, and the front office hasn't fully embraced a top-down rebuild that would help Colorado at least have a bright future.
Instead, the Rockies have largely stagnated since reaching the 2009 playoffs, a process that started well before Weiss took over. Plus, his job became that much harder this year when Colorado traded away its best player, Troy Tulowitzki, in the middle of the season—a necessary albeit painful step for the team's long-term benefit.
Some fans may find Weiss' return a somewhat underwhelming development, but it's unlikely any manager could lead the Rockies to the playoffs in 2016 unless ownership invests heavily during the offseason.
Weiss will likely get one more year—his contract runs out after next season—to at least show some signs of progress before his job security seriously comes into doubt.
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