Bud Black, Rockies Reportedly Agree to Contract Extension Through 2023 Season

The Colorado Rockies are showing faith in Bud Black as their manager going forward. 

Per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, Black signed a one-year extension earlier this month that ties him to the Rockies through the 2023 season. 

Black is entering his sixth season with the Rockies after being hired in November 2016 to replace Walt Weiss.

The Rockies signed him to a three-year extension in February 2019 that was set to expire after the 2022 season. 

Black's tenure in Colorado got off to a strong start with back-to-back winning seasons in 2017 and 2018. The Rockies made the playoffs both years, losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2017 National League Wild Card Game and Milwaukee Brewers in the 2018 NLDS. 

Since the start of 2019, the Rockies have been among the worst teams in the National League. They have gone 171-212 during that span with three consecutive fourth-place finishes in the NL West. 

A lot of the issues are related to a series of poor trades and reduced payroll that make it difficult to compete in the same division as the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. 

Nolan Arenado, who signed an eight-year, $260 million extension in February 2019, was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for five players prior to the start of last season. 

The Athletic's Keith Law wrote at the time of the deal that the Rockies "just dumped a contract, failing to acquire any players who seem likely to be part of the core of their next playoff team."

Colorado's payroll went from a franchise-record $145 million in 2019 to $53 million in 2020, per Cot's Baseball Contracts. The payroll was back up over $100 million last season, but they still finished 16 games behind the Cardinals for the second wild-card spot in the NL.