Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez gave their support to Walt Weiss

It should come as no surprise that Colorado Rockies manager Walt Weiss in on the hot seat. The Rockies haven’t been particularly competitive over the past three seasons, going 206-274 with Weiss at the helm.

While the franchise has plenty of other issues, one of the easiest ways for the front office to show the fans they aren’t happy with the results of the team is to fire the manager. 

If Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez get their way, that won’t be the case. Both stars backed Weiss recently, saying he shouldn’t be let go just because the club hasn’t performed, according to Nick Groke of the Denver Post. 

“I think Walt did a good job. I really do. You can’t blame him for the way we played,” Arenado said Sunday after the Rockies closed out their final homestand.

Gonzalez agreed, saying Weiss has had to overcome a lot of issues this season.

“It’s tough on him because you don’t have the guys any manager would ask for, rotation-wise,” Gonzalez said. “There’s always a different guy pitching. I can’t imagine how hard it would be for a manager. But at the same time, he’s handled it very well.

Finally, Arenado concluded:

“At the end of the day, we weren’t very good this year. We haven’t been very good,” Arenado said. “The blame doesn’t go to him. He puts the best guys out there and we need to go perform. We weren’t able to do that this year. Hopefully, we’ll have some guys next year ready to play and give him a better chance to win.”

There you have it.

It’s actually somewhat rare to see players take such a strong stand supporting their manager this late in the season. It happens, sure, but not as often as you might think. It was pretty well known that Brad Ausmus was on the block with the Detroit Tigers recently, and there weren’t many comments from players about that situation.

That’s not to say that the Tigers players disapproved of Ausmus, it’s more to point out that Arenado and Gonzalez went out of their way to praise Weiss. They could have easily avoided the question, or given tepid answers, but both clearly said this wasn’t Weiss’ fault.

Their comments could put the front office in a tough spot. By nearly every measure, Arenado and Gonzalez were the two best players on the club this season. Their words probably carry weight in the clubhouse. If they support Weiss and the front office lets him go, that could be a tough pill for some players to swallow.

At the same time, general manager Jeff Bridich needs to do what he feels is best for the team. If he feels strongly that Weiss needs to go, the comments from his players probably won’t mean much. If he’s on the fence about it, though, it’s possible the support from Arenado and Gonzalez will save Weiss for now.

Judging managers is difficult, particularly on bad teams. Is it Weiss fault they aren’t winning, or does he simply lack the talent to make it work? Anyone can pick apart a manager’s tactical decisions, and that certainly matters, but managing personalities in the clubhouse is also important. It appears Weiss has been able to succeed as far as the latter is concerned despite a tough situation.

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At this point, it’s unclear whether that will be enough to save him. While it’s not going to make him feel any better if the Rockies do eventually let him go, at least Weiss can rest easy knowing his best players had his back.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik