Rockies Narrow Front Office Search To At Least Two Finalists

Reports emerged a few days ago that the Rockies were entering the finalist stage of their search for a new front office leader, and the field has now been whittled down to perhaps just two names.  The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal report that Guardians assistant GM Matt Forman and Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye are under consideration for the job, though it is possible another unknown finalist may also still be in the mix.  Former Astros GM James Click and Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp had been candidates for the Rockies job but are no longer in consideration.

Forman, Sharp, and Click were the only names linked to the Rockies’ search, though naturally the team has likely been speaking with other candidates like Sawdaye who weren’t publicly known until now.  Sawdaye has previously been a candidate for top front office posts with the Giants (before Farhan Zaidi was hired) and Angels (who hired Perry Minasian), plus he was at least contacted by the Nationals about their president of baseball operations opening this offseason before Paul Toboni was hired.  Sawdaye has never held the top post in a front office before, but he did take over day-to-day operations for the D’Backs in 2021 when GM Mike Hazen took a temporary leave of absence.

Sawdaye is a longtime executive who started his baseball career with a 15-year stint in the Red Sox front office, rising to the levels of VP of international and amateur scouting.  He worked closely with Hazen for a decade of that time, and when Hazen was hired as Arizona’s GM in October 2016, Sawdaye followed as Hazen’s assistant GM and has since been the de facto chief lieutenant within the Diamondbacks front office.

All this time in the NL West has given Sawdaye plenty of familiarity with the Rockies, and thus Sawdaye may well have some insight into how the Rox can get their organization on track.  Colorado’s search for a new front office head is particularly intriguing since owner Dick Monfort is finally looking at external hires, as a way of bringing some fresh perspective into an organization that has long been accused of being too insular and outmoded in its thinking.

Seven straight losing seasons will tend to convince a team that things need to be changed, especially after the particular embarrassment of the Rockies’ near-record 119-loss campaign in 2025.  Whether it’s Sawdaye, Forman, or another finalist who gets the job, a massive task lies in front of them in simply modernizing the Rockies’ baseball operations department, before getting around to upgrading the on-field roster.

The latest round of interviews for the finalists will take place later this week, Ghiroli and Rosenthal write, with the assumption being that the Rockies will have someone hired before the GM Meetings in early November.  Interim manager Warren Schaeffer technically remains a candidate for the full-time managerial position, but chances are the new GM/president of baseball operations would want to make their own choice as Colorado’s next skipper.