LAS VEGAS — Paul DePodesta has returned to a brave new world.
It’s been more than two decades since the Rockies’ new president of baseball operations became the poster boy for a new generation of analytic thinkers who helped revolutionize Major League Baseball. DePodesta, of course, was the inspiration for Jonah Hill’s character, Peter Brand, in the movie “Moneyball” about the 2002 Oakland A’s, who won 102 games and captured the AL West despite a relatively small payroll.
But that was long ago and far away.
DePodesta is 10 years removed from working in baseball and enters a landscape filled with new contraptions and enough analytical data to make any number-cruncher’s head spin. And, oh yeah, he’s inherited a Rockies team that has gone 163-323 over the last three seasons and was outscored by a modern era record 424 runs in 2025.
So, when news broke that DePodesta was Colorado’s surprise hire, skepticism was high.
However, at the recent general managers’ meetings, it was impossible to find a discouraging word from his colleagues about the Rockies’ out-of-the-box decision to lure DePodesta back to baseball. While several executives were surprised that Depodesta was returning to the game after his 10-year stint with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, none of them thought he was in over his head or out of touch.
“Paul is a brilliant guy, for sure,” said Chris Antonetti, the Guardians’ longtime president of baseball operations. “He’ll figure it out.”
Maybe so, but think of what DePodesta has missed over the last 10 years while he was analyzing quarterbacks and offensive linemen. Rising strikeout rates. The launch-angle craze. The proliferation of pitch shaping. A world where 100 mph fastballs are commonplace. And, of course, the implementation of the pitch clock.
No worries, said Anotnetti.
“Paul’s always been in touch with baseball,” he said. “He knows about trends and what’s happened since he left.”
Since Colorado hired DePodesta on Nov. 7, he has repeatedly been asked if those years spent trying to build a football team in Cleveland diminished his ability to reconstruct a downtrodden baseball franchise. His own struggles trying to turn around the Browns as the franchise’s chief strategy officer were a part of that line of questioning, including his role in the infamous Deshaun Watson trade.
The 52-year-old Harvard graduate smiled and offered up a similar response each time.
“I have friends across all different front offices,” he said. “There are a handful I’ve kept in very close touch with over the past 10 years, and they would hit me up with things that were happening in the NFL. I always tried to keep abreast of what was happening, certainly not to the extent where I was working full-time. But, yes, I was still interested.”
And the man who first made his mark as a stats guru says he evolved into a more well-rounded front-office boss.
“I’ve made mistakes and I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “I’m interested in seeing what (the Rockies) can do from a technology standpoint, but I’m also interested in how we use the data. So it’s really about how you’re using it and asking yourself, ‘Is it really helpful? I look at things differently.”
It was refreshing to hear DePodesta admit there are no easy answers in LoDo, acknowledge that baseball is not a scientific formula and that he’s not Mr. Wizard.
“I lost my no-hitter a long time ago,” he said Friday during his introductory news conference. “I’m not perfect. I haven’t been perfect. I won’t be perfect going forward.”
Owner Dick Monfort said on Friday that he had “close to 30 people” interested in leading Colorado’s front office. Considering the franchise’s track record — seven straight losing seasons, no division titles to speak of, and a subpar farm system — along with the vagaries of playing baseball at altitude, the high number of candidates was surprising.
If there is anyone who knows what DePodesta is up against in his attempt to raise the Rockies from the ashes, it’s White Sox general manager Chris Getz. In 2024, he presided over the worst season in modern baseball history, watching the White Sox finish 41-121. He kept his job, and the White Sox improved by 19 games this past season, going 60-102.
Baby steps, for sure, but steps in the right direction. Getz said that hiring Will Venable as manager last fall, a man with no ties to the 121-loss debacle, was a necessary move.
“We were fortunate to bring Will in,” Getz said. “He was not part of the 41-win season, and Paul was not part of the (Rockies’) past season. So, those seasons aren’t hanging over those guys’ heads. And they shouldn’t. It’s about what they’re going to do now to take steps toward winning?”
A culture shift, Getz said, is a necessary ingredient for rebuilding.
“When I took the general manager job two years ago, I was very focused on bringing in people from different organizations and with different backgrounds and experiences,” he said. “That can really bleed into all areas of your organization and lead to a culture shift.
“Thankfully, this year, we were able to take a step forward, and now there is another big step we have to take. But we feel really good about the people we have in the building. Now it’s about making moves throughout the organization and trying to move forward as quickly as possible.”
With the offseason already in full swing, DePodesta is already having to play catch-up with a franchise that has lagged behind the rest of baseball in terms of analytics and player development. DePodesta said he plans to hire a general manager, likely from outside of the organization. And he still has to hire a field manager, too, which he says tops his lengthy to-do list.
Chris Young, the Rangers’ president of baseball operations, knows about quick turnarounds. He joined the Rangers in December 2020 as the executive vice president and general manager. Texas lost 102 games in 2021 and 94 in ’22. But it went 90-72 in 2023 and beat Arizona in the World Series to end the Rangers’ 63-year drought without a title.
“I think a lot of it was about player development, but then understanding the timeline on when to move in free agency,” Young said. “But first, we had to get everybody on the same page to where we collectively said, ‘This is how we are going to do it.’
“Can I say that I expect it to come together in 2023 as quickly as it did? No. But it can come together quickly. Of course, then you have to try and sustain it.”
If Young were in DePodesta’s shoes, would he sketch out a timeline for success? Set a date for playoff expectations?
“Timelines are artificial and you can’t control them perfectly,” Young said. “What you can say is, ‘These are the areas we need to focus on. The ability to come in and truly evaluate the organization is key. Find out what’s being done well and where there are weaknesses. It’s critical that you get that right. You can’t take shortcuts.”
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.