Rockies' O'Dowd named Sporting News' MLB Executive of the Year

CHICAGO - After trading away All-Star Matt Holliday and losing All-Star Brian Fuentes to free agency during the offseason, many picked the Colorado Rockies to finish near the bottom of the National League West. But, after a franchise record 92 wins, general manager Dan O'Dowd was honored Monday as the Sporting News' 2009 Major League Baseball Executive of the Year.

O'Dowd received the award Monday night at the MLB general managers' meetings in Chicago. The award was voted on by a panel of 31 big league general managers and assistant general managers.

The 2009 National League wild card did not come easy though, for the 2009 Rockies, despite key contributions from Huston Street and Carlos Gonzalez - both acquired in the Holliday trade.

O'Dowd had the difficult task of firing manager Clint Hurdle in late May after an 18-28 start.

"To make that decision, which I knew was the right decision, was emotionally very difficult. And draining, to be frank," O'Dowd told Sporting News. "I wanted to handle it the exact same way as I would want to be treated if I was in the same position."

The switch to Jim Tracy at the helm triggered the team's resurgence. They went 74-42 under Tracy.

"I'm not naive," O'Dowd said. "I studied all of the managerial changes in the history of baseball, and the percentage is extremely low, when you make a change, that it turns out this way."

O'Dowd also made key midseason moves, acquiring set-up men Rafeal Betancourt, and Joe Beimel, slugger Jason Giambi and pitcher Jose Contreras.