No matter how much confidence Walt Weiss projects from the top step of the Rockies’ dugout, he’s standing on shaky ground.

Doomed to uphold the local baseball tradition of finishing in last place, Weiss’ job is clearly in doubt. So I asked: How much would he feel the need to sell general manager Jeff Bridich on the idea of keeping him for the 2016 season?

Before answering, Weiss slowly pulled the thin Rocky Mountain air into his lungs and exhaled deliberately through his mouth, giving him time to measure each letter of every word.

“Do I have to do a sales job on behalf of myself? I hope not. I’m not a very good self-promoter. That’s not my thing,” Weiss said Tuesday.

WATCH: Will the Colorado Rockies bring Walt Weiss back?

Weiss, however, was not offended by the suggestion he must now fight to keep his job.

“Hey, it’s a legitimate question,” he told me, “because you’ve got to defend what you’re doing if you haven’t won.”

We all know the Rockies organization has bigger problems than Weiss, from a bullpen that’s up to its elbows in trouble to clueless franchise ownership that reminds us the road to last place is paved with good intentions.

But you can believe Bridich when he insists a decision on Weiss’ future will not be made until the season is over. Dismissal is a real possibility. Please remember: This is the general manager who calmly pulled the trigger on the Troy Tulowitzki trade while Rockies owner Dick Monfort fought back tears.

Weiss knows sentiment won’t save him. So why keep him?

“We haven’t won yet,” Weiss said. “But I feel like there’s a foundation of respect and trust in the clubhouse with this coaching staff. Guys on this team feel the need to show up and compete every day. … I don’t expect people to give that a whole lot of credence. But, for me, when I look in the mirror after every game, that’s what me and the staff hang our hat on.”

During the three seasons Weiss has served as Rockies manager, the results on the field have stunk. Heading into a game with playoff-bound Pittsburgh were already 271 losses on his résumé. And counting. That’s an average of more than 90 defeats per season.

“I get it. It’s a bottom-line business,” Weiss said. “As a head coach or a manager, sooner or later, you’ve got to win. I’m not naïve to that.”

With Clint Hurdle in town as skipper of the Pittsburgh Pirates, it served as a reminder the primary job requirement of the Rockies’ manager has long been to draw a smiley face on a bad situation rather than demand victory. You play to win the game — except in Colorado, where trusting the process, no matter how laborious, seems to be the favorite wait-until-next-year excuse.

To illustrate my point, it was painfully obvious Weiss believed pitcher Jon Gray should have been in the starting rotation considerably sooner than his call-up from the minor leagues in August, after all hope and Tulo were already gone. To fight for his players on the field, I would have liked to see Weiss kick up a little more dirt to get Gray in a Rockies uniform when the games still mattered.

The key question, of course: If the Rockies fire Weiss, where do they turn for their next manager?

At age 66, would Dusty Baker be too old or too expensive to be a good fit in Colorado?

Bud Black knows pitching, but does he know too much about the horrors of Coors Field to attempt managing a staff at 5,280 feet above sea level?

And would the Rockies dare to think out of the box, which might allow them to consider somebody like Ivan ” Pudge” Rodriguez, named an all-star at catcher 14 times, as a managerial candidate?

If Bridich is really intent on going to spring training in Arizona with outfielder Carlos Gonzalez on the roster, however, it’s probably safe to assume the Rockies aren’t ready to commit fully to a rebuilding project, where the foundational work of Weiss would figure to be most valuable.

I’m afraid what might doom Weiss is delusional thinking by the Rockies. If the front office actually thinks the Rockies can compete for a playoff berth in 2016, then a last-place team needs a kick in the pants and young Colorado pitchers might benefit from a manager with an instinctive feel for what makes a staff tick.

Those are the kind of thoughts that could get Weiss fired.

Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or @markkiszla