New Head of Baseball Operations for Rockies

The Colorado Rockies have brought on Paul DePodesta as the new head of baseball operations in hopes of reviving the team’s performance.

DePodesta, who has been serving as the chief strategy officer for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns since 2016, has quite a background. He spent nearly two decades in Major League Baseball front offices and made a surprising transition from baseball to football.

Before his time with the Browns, he held positions with the Indians, Athletics, Dodgers, Padres, and Mets. Most notably, DePodesta was vice president of player development and scouting for the Mets from 2010 to 2016 under GM Sandy Alderson.

He’s perhaps best recognized as the inspiration for the character Peter Brand in Michael Lewis’ best-selling book “Moneyball,” where he worked alongside Billy Beane during a pivotal time in baseball history. It’s interesting how a movie can immortalize one’s career, right?

Now, he faces a tough challenge with the Rockies, a team struggling to find success. Colorado hasn’t had a winning season since 2018, and the past three years have been particularly rough, with the team losing over 100 games each season.

Last year, they racked up 119 losses, marking one of the lowest points in the franchise’s history. It’s quite a task ahead, especially given the challenges of playing at altitude in Denver.

Since being established as an expansion franchise in 1993, the Rockies have only made the postseason five times. It’s a pattern of underachievement that must be frustrating for fans.

Interestingly, DePodesta’s experience with the Browns isn’t exactly a story of success; they, too, had their own struggles, with eight consecutive losing seasons under his watch when he joined. Dallas hasn’t fared much better since, recording only two wins in the eight seasons that followed.