The Rockies’ Paul DePodesta era has begun.
Podesta, a longtime Major League Baseball and NFL executive, was officially named the club’s president of baseball operations on Friday morning. The club will add additional front-office staff from outside the organization to work under Podesta, who will most likely hire a general manager.
RELATED: Who is Paul DePodesta? What to know about Rockies’ new head of baseball operations.
The Rockies’ search was led by executive vice president Walker Monfort and his father, Dick, the team’s owner and CEO.
“Today is an exciting day for the Rockies organization as we welcome Paul as our new president of baseball operations,” Dick Monfort said in a statement. “Paul was the very first person we interviewed, and throughout our conversations with him, Walker and I were both intrigued by his understanding of the game, his positive attitude, his process-based mindset and his influence on the game. This is a special guy with great vision and a great plan. He is a winner and he is going to win in Colorado.”
DePodesta, 52, is leaving the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, where he has spent the past decade as chief strategy officer, and returning to MLB. DePodesta’s baseball experience includes serving as a front office assistant for the Cleveland Indians (Guardians), Oakland Athletics (during their “Moneyball” era) and New York Mets. He was also the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 2004-05 seasons.
“I have always kept my eye on baseball and this is an incredible opportunity to help make an impact in the next chapter of the Rockies,” DePodesta said in a statement. “Building a consistent winner here is a shared goal and one that I am eager to embrace alongside Rockies leaders, staff, players, and fans. I am ready for the challenge and excited to get started immediately.”
Walker Monfort called DePodesta’s hire a “first step” for a team coming off three consectutive l00-loss seasons, culminating in a 119-loss season in 2025.
“Paul’s previous work in MLB set the foundation for many aspects of the way the game is analyzed today and we are thrilled for him to be a key figure in our future,” Walker Monfort said. “Hiring Paul is an essential first step to the evolution of our baseball department and we’re confident that he will not only maximize our current personnel but will also bring in additional leaders from outside the organization to help lead us forward.”
With the Browns, DePodesta was tasked with implementing systems while working across the organization, including with ownership, the front office, coaching staff, player personnel staff, and analytics team.
A native of Alexandria, Va., DePodesta graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1995 with a degree in economics while playing both baseball and football for the Crimson.
DePodesta will begin his work with the Rockies at the general managers’ meetings in Las Vegas on Monday.
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.