November 9: DePodesta aims to hire a general manager and other front-office personnel before the winter meetings, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network.
November 7: The Rockies officially announced DePodesta as their new president of baseball operations today.
“Paul’s previous work in Major League Baseball laid the foundation for analyzing many aspects of the game today, and we are excited to have him as a key figure in our future,” executive vice president Walker Monfort said in today’s release. “Under his leadership, we will evolve the Colorado Rockies into an exciting new era. Hiring Paul is an important first step in the growth of our baseball department, and we believe he will not only maximize the use of our existing personnel but will also bring in additional leaders from outside the organization to help lead us forward.”
November 6: The Rockies have reportedly reached an agreement with Paul DePodesta to run baseball operations. The team has not announced the hire or whether he will serve as general manager of baseball operations or president. Regardless, it was a shocking move that allowed DePodesta to return to baseball after a decade.
DePodesta has been with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns since January 2016. He did not serve as general manager. His title is relatively vague: chief strategy officer. DePodesta has worked under several general managers in Cleveland — the past five under executive vice president and general manager Andrew Berry. He appears to have held senior scouting/player acquisition positions but never held the top spot in football operations.
The Browns have made the playoffs twice in the last eight years and are coming off a 3-14 season that finished last in the AFC North. They currently sit at 2-6, last in the division, as they go through another rebuild.
Before moving to the NFL, DePodesta was a senior director of baseball operations. He is perhaps best known for his time as the A’s assistant general manager under Billy Beane. This is largely due to Moneyballa book by Michael Lewis, documents that despite limited budgets, the Athletics were at the forefront of using more advanced player metrics to achieve success. The story was adapted into a critically acclaimed 2011 film, in which Jonah Hill played a composite character based largely on DePodesta.
although MoneyballDePodesta’s popularity made him most closely associated with the Athletics, and his top job in MLB came in 2004 when he accepted the position of general manager of the Dodgers. DePodesta was only 31 years old at the time. He held the position for two seasons, winning 93 games and capturing the NFC West title in 2004. The team fell to 71-91 the following year, and the Dodgers fired him at the end of the ’05 season. DePodesta spent the next decade as a senior assistant with the Padres and Mets before jumping to the NFL.
DePodesta, 52, returns to baseball nearly 20 years after he last served as general manager. He faces huge challenges. The Rox are 43-119 this season, tied for third-worst in the Hyundai League. Their -424 run differential is even worse in some ways. They were the first team since 1899 to score more than 400 points. Even though they played half of their games at Coors Field, they had the second-lowest score in MLB. They allowed 122 more points than the next closest team.
Despite the dire state of the major league roster, the Rockies don’t have the high-end farm system you’d expect from a club that’s finished fourth or fifth in the division seven years in a row. Baseball America credits two top-100 prospects in latest update for August: Recent top-five picks Ethan Holliday and Charlie Condon. Because of these consecutive lottery picks, the Rockies are prohibited by the CBA from selecting any player higher than the 10th pick in the 2026 draft.
There aren’t many components on the MLB roster. shortstop Ezequiel Tovarcenter fielder Brenton Doyleand starting pitchers Chase Doland The key guy who has the best chance of becoming a long-term contender. They’re both coming off underwhelming seasons. Hunter Goodman Is the team’s best player in 2025. He’s one of only four major catchers with 30 or more homers, but he’s 26 and coming off a breakout season in which he was poor in both strikeouts and on-base performances. He may be more of a quality complementary player than one of the three to five best position players among the contenders.
On top of that, management faces the unique challenge of building a pitching staff capable of succeeding at altitude. There’s always the possibility they’ll face a heavier pitch count and workload in a 162-game season at MLB’s most hitter-friendly ballparks. Colorado hitters need to adapt to different pitching motions at home and on the road. They are in a division with the two-time defending World Series champions. The Padres won more than 90 games for the second straight season. The Diamondbacks and Giants have both been around average lately, but both teams have the Rockies’ own Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon heyday.
DePodesta would be the surprising choice to turn things around. Last week, the Rockies appeared to have selected Diamondbacks assistant general manager Amir Sodaye and Guardians general manager of the year Matt Foreman as finalists. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote that Soday turned down Colorado’s offer, while Foreman removed himself from consideration. This allowed them to perform well outside DePodesta’s box.
This is Colorado’s first outside general manager hire in more than a decade. They stayed in-house with the promotions of Jeff Bridich and Bill Schmidt. DePodesta’s first priority will be the final front office decision of the offseason. Interim captain Warren Schaefer has been in limbo since the team moved on from Schmidt at the end of the regular season.
Thomas Hardin of MLB.com first mentioned DePodesta as a strong candidate for the job. ESPN’s Jeff Passan mentioned they were close to a deal, while The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Brittany Guillory and Zach Jackson first reported that a deal was in place.
Photo courtesy of Ken Breeze of USA TODAY Sports.
