The Rockies announced today that they have hired Ian Levin as assistant general manager. Thomas Harding of MLB.com reported the hire prior to the official announcement. “Ian brings a proven record of strategic leadership, key roster decision-making, and innovative player performance initiatives,” president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said in the club’s press release. “With extensive experience across major league operations, research and development, player development and amateur scouting, Ian will strengthen every part of our operation. We couldn’t be more excited to bring him to the Rockies.”
Levin has spent the past two decades with the Mets. He was hired as an intern in 2005 on the public relations side, then moved over to baseball operations in 2006. He worked in scouting and player development roles over the years, getting promoted to assistant general manager with that club in 2021, a title he held through 2024. He departed the Mets a year ago to start his own company.
The Rockies have been trying to give their franchise an overhaul. The general perception around baseball is that they have been trailing the other clubs when it comes to data and analytics. That has contributed to a miserable on-field product. Colorado has lost at least 101 games in three straight seasons, with the most recent campaign seeing them drop all the way to 119 losses.
The past few months, the club has been focused on blazing a new trail. They parted ways with general manager Bill Schmidt at the end of the regular season. Assistant general manager Zack Rosenthal resigned a week later. The Rockies eventually hired DePodesta to run the front office. DePodesta later added Josh Byrnes as general manager and Tommy Tanous as assistant general manager.
Byrnes came from the Dodgers and Tanous and Levin both from the Mets, though Levin was away from the Mets for a year. What all three have in common is that they all crossed paths with DePodesta years ago. DePodesta has been working in the NFL for the past decade but was in baseball for many years before that. DePodesta and Byrnes were both working for Cleveland in the late ’90s. DePodesta later worked from the Mets from 2011 to 2015 before joining the Cleveland Browns.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images
The Browns were 55-98-1 during DePodesta’s regime. Good going Rockies, you hired a winner!
Jokes on you there’s no ties in baseball
I guess you didn’t hear, the Cleveland Browns are a football team in the National Football League,
There’s sincerely nothing groundbreaking about Paul DePodesta. He came into a winning situation in Oakland and helped add pieces that werent EXACTLY invisible to others. Chad Bradford wasnt an unknown. His drafts were horrible to be were a lot of lost opportunities. And that Moneyball season offense was league avg. He had stars on offense still and a lights out rotation and a closer
He wasn’t the GM in Oakland.
Well he stunk in LA too.
Didn’t he turn them around between 03-04?
I believe he was more like Frank McCourt’s fall guy.
Wasn’t that lee majors?
First of all it’s the Browns, they’re always terrible no matter who’s running the show. Second, DePodesta wasn’t even their main guy.
@extreme You have no idea what De Podesta’s exact duties were with the Browns and how they translate to his current position with the Rockies Give him a season or two before making dumb statements.
@Dolemite – “Give him a season or two before making dumb statements..”
Are you new to the Internet? He was already being judged the same day he was hired and there have already been hundreds of dumb statements made regarding his Rockies tenure. People are never patient when it comes to exposing their own lack of intelligence.
@hiflew I can only respond to the dumb responses that you and Exsteme come up with. Just because hundreds of other hateful people write the same crap doesn’t make it right.
People are never patient when it comes to exposing their own lack of intelligence.
Thank you for responding so quickly as more evidence to back up my statement.
The article mentions that Levin left the Mets a year ago to start his own company. Does anyone know what type of company it is or was? Baseball related?
Never mind. I found it on LinkedIn. To anyone interested, he founded OneOne Sports to help collegiate programs develop data-based approaches to a changing landscape.
Thanks for the update. Is he still running it, or did he sell it or shut it down? Seems kind of odd to still own a company while being an assistant GM on a baseball team…
I don’t know. It says he founded the company. There was nothing about his new position with the Rockies. I can’t find a website for the company, and have no idea if it still exists.
The Rockies are bad because of horrible roster construction year in and year out. Terrible leadership from the top down. Those are the reasons they are horrible. Maybe bringing in new people with different ideas and better roster construction will bring better results.
The trail the league in the desire to spend enough money to win.