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Rockies Name Josh Byrnes General Manager

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3:04pm: The Rockies have formally announced the hiring of Byrnes.

“I’m incredibly excited to be able to bring Josh into our group,” DePodesta said within today’s press release. “Few executives in baseball share his combination of intellectual curiosity, breadth of experience, and on-field successes. We are extremely fortunate to add him, as he immediately strengthens our entire baseball operation.”

9:43am: The Rockies are set to hire Dodgers senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes away as their new general manager, per Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic. Though he’ll have the GM title, Byrnes will be second in command in the new-look Rox front office that’s headed up by recently hired president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta.

Byrnes, 55, is a seasoned front office veteran who has previously run baseball operations for both the Padres and D-backs, holding the title of general manager with each club. Byrnes is also a former assistant GM within the Rockies organization itself, having held that role in Denver from 1999 through 2002, so he’s something of a known commodity for owner Dick Monfort.

Byrnes was one of Andrew Friedman’s first hires after being named president of baseball operations in Los Angeles. He’s spent 11 years as one of Friedman’s top lieutenants, supervising both the scouting and player development departments for the Dodgers. Byrnes’ résumé is an impressive one. He’s spent more than a decade as a key figure in the front office for a Dodgers club that has won three World Series titles in that span. Prior to that, he headed up a pair of other front offices in the NL West and also served as an assistant GM with the 2003-04 Red Sox during their curse-breaking World Series victory.

That’s 26 straight seasons as either an assistant GM, a general manager or a senior vice president of baseball operations. Prior to that run, Byrnes cut his teeth as an advance scout and scouting director in Cleveland under legendary general manager John Hart. Byrnes also overlapped with another advance scout and rising star in player development during that time … his new boss, DePodesta.

All of those prominent roles give Byrnes ample insight into how to best reshape and build out a Rockies infrastructure that has lagged far behind the times. Colorado has the smallest analytics department and smallest front office, in general, of any team in baseball. Under the Monfort family’s ownership, they’ve been either loyal to a fault or downright insular, depending on how one prefers to frame it. Byrnes and DePodesta figure to make numerous hires to beef up the Rockies’ data practice, player development department and broader baseball operations setup.

MLBTR Podcast: Surprising Option Decisions, Qualifying Offers, And Paul DePodesta

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images

Rockies Name Paul DePodesta President Of Baseball Operations

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Nov. 9: DePodesta is aiming to hire a general manager and other front office personnel by the time of the winter meetings, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

Nov. 7: The Rockies formally announced DePodesta as their new president of baseball operations today.

“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,” executive vice president Walker Monfort said within today’s press release. “Under his leadership, we will evolve the Colorado Rockies into what we know will be an exciting new era. 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.”

Nov. 6: The Rockies are reportedly in agreement with Paul DePodesta to run baseball operations. The team has yet to announce the hire, nor whether he’ll be the general manager or president of baseball operations. In any case, it’s a stunning move that brings DePodesta back to baseball after a decade.

DePodesta has worked with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns since January 2016. He has not been the general manager. His relatively vague title has been chief strategy officer. DePodesta has worked under a few GMs in Cleveland — the past five of which have come under executive vice president and GM Andrew Berry. He has seemingly held a high-ranking scouting/player acquisition position without ever having the top spot in football operations.

The Browns have made the playoffs twice in the past eight years and are coming off a 3-14 season that had them in last place in the AFC North. They’re currently 2-6 and at the bottom of the division as they’re amidst another rebuild.

Before his move to the NFL, DePodesta was a high-ranking baseball operations executive. He’s probably most famous for his time as the assistant general manager with the A’s under Billy Beane. That’s due largely to the success of Moneyball, the Michael Lewis book chronicling the A’s being at the forefront of using more advanced player metrics to succeed despite significant budgetary constraints. That was adapted into an acclaimed 2011 film in which Jonah Hill played a composite character that was largely based on DePodesta.

While Moneyball’s popularity makes DePodesta most associated with the A’s, his highest-ranking MLB position came when he accepted the general manager job with the Dodgers in 2004. DePodesta was just 31 years old at the time. He held the role for two seasons, winning 93 games and the NL West title in 2004. The team stumbled to a 71-91 showing the following year, and the Dodgers fired him at the end of the ’05 campaign. DePodesta worked as a high-ranking assistant with the Padres and Mets for the next decade before making the jump to the NFL.

Now 52, DePodesta returns to baseball almost 20 years since his last GM job. He’s facing a monumental challenge. The Rox are coming off a 43-119 season that is tied for the third worst of the modern era. Their -424 run differential was somehow even worse. They were the first team since 1899 to be outscored by more than 400 runs. They scored the second-fewest runs in MLB despite playing half their games at Coors Field. They allowed 122 more runs than the next-closest team.

Despite the abysmal state of the major league roster, the Rockies don’t have the kind of high-end farm system that one would expect from a club that has finished fourth or fifth in the division in seven straight years. Baseball America credited them with two Top 100 prospects on their latest update in August: recent top five picks Ethan Holliday and Charlie Condon. As a result of those consecutive lottery picks, the Rockies are prohibited by the CBA from picking any higher than 10th in the 2026 draft.

There aren’t many buildings blocks on the MLB roster. Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, center fielder Brenton Doyle, and starting pitcher Chase Dollander have the best chance to be key pieces of a long-term contender. They’re all coming off underwhelming seasons. Hunter Goodman was the team’s best player in 2025. He was one of only four primary catchers to hit 30-plus homers, but he’s a 26-year-old coming off a breakout season in which his strikeout and walk profile was poor. He’s probably more of a good complementary player than someone who’d be one of the three to five best position players on a contender.

On top of all that, the front office faces the unique challenge of building a pitching staff that can succeed at altitude. They’re always likely to face heavier pitch counts and workloads over the course of a 162-game season at MLB’s most hitter-friendly park. Colorado hitters need to adjust to different pitch movements at home and on the road. They’re in a division with the two-time defending World Series winners. The Padres have won 90-plus games in two straight seasons. The Diamondbacks and Giants have been around average of late, but both teams have the kind of impact position player talent that the Rockies have not developed since the Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon heyday.

DePodesta will be the surprise choice to turn things around. The Rockies had seemingly settled on Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye and Guardians AGM Matt Forman as the finalists last week. Bob Nightengale of USA Today writes that Sawdaye rejected Colorado’s offer, while Forman took himself out of consideration. That led them to go well outside the box for DePodesta.

It’s Colorado’s first external GM hiring in more than a decade. They’d stayed internal with the promotions of Jeff Bridich and Bill Schmidt. DePodesta’s first task will be the final managerial decision of the offseason. Interim skipper Warren Schaeffer has been in limbo since the team moved on from Schmidt at the end of the regular season.

Thomas Harding of MLB.com first mentioned that DePodesta was a strong candidate for the position. ESPN’s Jeff Passan mentioned that they were nearing a deal, while The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Brittany Ghiroli and Zac Jackson first reported the agreement was in place.

Image courtesy of Ken Blaze, USA Today Sports.

Latest on Mets’ Front Office Search

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October 13: The Mets’ wide-ranging search for a new PBO apparently won’t reach as far as the NFL.  Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports there had been some speculation that Paul DePodesta, currently the chief strategy officer for the Cleveland Browns, was being considered as a possible candidate, but DePodesta tells Sherman he’s not interested in leaving his current position. Prior to making the jump to football in 2016, DePodesta had a long run working in various MLB front-office jobs with Cleveland, Oakland, the Dodgers, San Diego and the Mets.

On the other side of the ledger, you can add Dodgers’ assistant GM Brandon Gomes to the list of names the Mets may want to interview, writes Andy Martino of SNY.  However, Martino suggests the Dodgers could consider promoting Gomes themselves if the Mets express serious interest in poaching him.

October 12: The Mets have discussed Josh Byrnes as a possibility in their ongoing search for a new president of baseball operations, reports Buster Olney of ESPN (Twitter link). Byrnes has spent the past eight seasons as the Dodgers’ senior vice president of baseball operations.

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network suggested last month that Byrnes might pop onto the Mets’ radar, and it indeed seems he’s caught the attention of owner Steve Cohen and team president Sandy Alderson. It’s rather easy to see Byrnes’ appeal. The Dodgers have been among the game’s most successful franchises over the past few years, and executives like Alex Anthopoulos (Braves) and Farhan Zaidi (Giants) have done quite well after taking over baseball operations elsewhere following stints in the L.A. front office. Byrnes interviewed for the Phillies’ leadership position that eventually went to Dave Dombrowski last winter but ultimately decided to remain in Los Angeles.

Byrnes also has plenty of experience running day-to-day baseball ops. Before joining Los Angeles, the 51-year-old had stints as the general manger of the Diamondbacks and Padres. In a somewhat ironic twist, Byrnes reportedly came close to landing the Mets’ GM job that went to Alderson back in 2010. Now, Alderson finds himself with a key role in settling on New York’s next baseball operations leader. While he assumed control over day-to-day operations for the final few weeks of this season, Alderson is planning to move back into a broader team president role for 2022.

Byrnes becomes the latest big name tied to the Mets, who are planning to request permission to interview A’s executive VP Billy Beane and Brewers’ president of baseball operations David Stearns. Unlike Beane and Stearns, Byrnes isn’t currently in charge of baseball ops elsewhere, which could make the initial hurdle of getting permission from his current club for an interview — should the Mets decide to take that step — easier than it is with the other candidates. The Mets already interviewed Theo Epstein, but the former Red Sox and Cubs leader will not be taking over in Queens.

Steve Cohen Could Bring Sandy Alderson Back To Mets

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Twenty-three votes from MLB owners are all that stand between billionaire Steve Cohen and a 95 percent stake in the Mets franchise. So long as he’s approved by the league’s other owners, he’ll step in and assume control of the club from the Wilpon family for a reported sale price of $2.475 billion. But while the Wilpons may be on their way out the door, another familiar name could return to the fold. SNY’s Andy Martino reports that Cohen is likely to bring former GM Sandy Alderson back to the organization — though not as general manager. Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that Cohen is mulling an advisory position for the 72-year-old Alderson.

Alderson was the Mets’ general manager from 2010-18 and only stepped away from the position when a cancer recurrence prompted him to take a medical leave in July 2018. Alderson would not return to the role, candidly acknowledging even while stepping away that, “on the merits, I’m not sure coming back is warranted.” The Mets went through an exhaustive search and ultimately went way outside the box when they hired high-profile agent Brodie Van Wagenen, who represented Jacob deGrom (among other Mets players), as their new GM. Months later, Alderson was hired by the Athletics as a senior advisor. Alderson was Oakland’s general manager from 1983-97.

Sherman adds that Cohen could make a push to bring former vice president of player development Paul DePodesta back to the organization. DePodesta departed in 2016, two years before Alderson, when he made the bold move to jump not only to another club but to another sport entirely. He’s spent the past four years serving as the chief strategy officer for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. As with Alderson, a potential role for DePodesta is unclear, but Cohen is plenty familiar with both veteran executives, having long served as a minority stakeholder.

Questions abound with any ownership change, and that is particularly true in this instance. Beyond the potential returns of some high-profile names, the most immediate question is: what would this mean for Van Wagenen? He was hired due in part to a strong existing relationship with Fred Wilpon, and it’s common for new owners to install their own appointees in the baseball operations department. The Mets, meanwhile, missed the postseason in Van Wagenen’s first year on the job and are all but certain to miss in 2020 as well.

Van Wagenen can’t be saddled with the blame for Noah Syndergaard’s Tommy John surgery or Marcus Stroman’s decision to opt out of the season. He can, however, be held accountable for the regrettable trade that sent Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn to the Mariners in exchange for Edwin Diaz and half of Robinson Cano’s remaining contract. The Jed Lowrie signing has been a circus. Wilson Ramos and Jeurys Familia haven’t been as impactful as hoped.

As with virtually any GM, there are highlights, too. The Kelenic/Cano/Diaz swap often overshadows the team’s trade for J.D. Davis, but Davis was acquired for a relative pittance and has emerged as a quality bat. DeGrom would be in position to make far more than $130MM in free agency this winter had the two sides not worked out an extension during Van Wagenen’s first spring on the job. We don’t know the exact financial limitations placed on Van Wagenen & Co., but we know that despite playing in New York, the Wilpons have spent more like the Cardinals than the Yankees or Dodgers.

Van Wagenen is under control for another two years beyond the current season, but there’s no guarantee he’d get the opportunity to see that play out under Cohen. The fate of manager Luis Rojas is similarly uncertain. It’s tough to evaluate Rojas based on this of all seasons — particularly when he spent much of the offseason expecting to open the year as the quality control coach under manager-that-never-was Carlos Beltran. As with Van Wagenen, there are low points and high points in Rojas’ brief time on the job, and it’s possible that Cohen would prefer more input on who is running the day-to-day in the clubhouse.

Sherman raises the possibility of former MLB agent Arn Tellem, now the vice chairman of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, also having a role with the Mets, but Martino tweets such a move is unlikely. If nothing else, the fact that it’s been considered or speculated upon only further underscores the organizational turnover that’s likely to come to the Mets in the event that Cohen is approved by his potential ownership peers.

Paul DePodesta Leaves Mets For NFL

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Mets executive Paul DePodesta is leaving the franchise, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). In fact, he’ll be leaving baseball entirely and will join the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Cleveland has announced DePodesta’s hiring as its “Chief Strategy Officer.”

[RELATED: Visit ProFootballRumors.com to read more about the move from the Browns’ perspective.]

DePodesta had served in New York as the VP of player development and amateur scouting. He was considered one of the top advisors to Mets GM Sandy Alderson, and perhaps factored as a long-term GM candidate for the franchise. Both Sherman (via Twitter) and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter links) suggest that he was viewed previously as a potential successor to Alderson. That, obviously, no longer appears to be a likely outcome. As Dicomo adds, New York will need to overhaul its draft approach, as that was one area in which DePodesta exercised broad authority.

The long-time baseball executive served as the Dodgers’ GM in 2004-05, taking on the position at just 31 years of age. Of course, he’s best known for his stint with the Athletics, as depicted in the Moneyball book and film. While those sources are said to present something of a caricature of the man, DePodesta is widely credited for his intelligence and data-saavy approach to the sport.

A graduate of Harvard University, where he played both football and baseball, DePodesta broke into the sports world with a Canadian Football League internship. It wasn’t long thereafter, however, that he earned a chance with the Indians, and he quickly gained a rising profile in the Cleveland front office.

Interestingly, DePodesta is reportedly not the only MLB exec who was pursued by the Browns. The organization also made an offer to former Indians and current Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro before he went to Toronto, per Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com (via Twitter).

East Notes: DePodesta, Mets, Red Sox

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Here’s a look at the AL and NL East:

  • Mets exec Paul DePodesta told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times that has has been contacted for about “half a dozen” GM vacancies since leaving the Dodgers.  However, the Mets’ vice president of player development and amateur scouting says that he only agreed to an interview once, only to later pull his name from consideration.  If he gets interest again this winter, there’s no guarantee that DePodesta will bite.  “It has never been about the title, especially after having it,” DePodesta said. “At some point, I aspired to that. I got there. Maybe it wasn’t all I expected it to be. I took a step back and said I wanted to do what I really enjoy. What I have here has been great. It satisfies what I’m looking for.”
  • Each of the previous three times Dave Dombrowski took over a franchise, he did so with something of a clean slate to work from, but that’s not necessarily the case this time, Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal writes.  The Red Sox already have several large payroll commitments with $150MM+ in guarantees on the books, a far cry from what he had with the expansion Marlins in 1991, the Expos in ’98, and the Tigers in 2002.  One key issue facing Boston is that they owe more than $50MM apiece to Rusney Castillo, Dustin Pedroia, Rick Porcello, Hanley Ramirez, and Pablo Sandoval, and all five players come with pretty serious question marks.
  • Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald wonders if the Red Sox should copy the Royals’ playbook, even though they have more purchasing power than KC.  Still, the Royals have managed to stock up on frontline starting pitchers with varying methods and with a strong bullpen behind them.  Silverman feels that finding a No. 1 pitcher needs to be Boston’s No. 1 priority, though they need to put a great deal of effort into bolstering their relievers as well.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Strasburg, Cespedes, Phils, Brewers, DePodesta

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Here are the latest notes from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports:

  • The Rangers and Nationals had trade talks involving Stephen Strasburg over the winter, per Rosenthal. Nothing ever came close to getting done in those “wide-ranging” talks, in which Steven Souza (later dealt to the Rays) and Jurickson Profar (later scratched for the season) also came up. It’s not clear from the report what kind of scenarios were considered. Looking forward, it remains to be seen whether there will be any consideration given this winter to a deal involving the 27-year-old righty. Strasburg’s value is down, due both to an inconsistent 2015 season and to the fact that he now has only one season left before hitting free agency, but it’s still hard to imagine the Nats letting him go unless the return was rather significant.
  • The Braves could line up a pursuit of outfielder Yoenis Cespedes in free agency, a source tells Rosenthal. While it’s not hard to see the appeal — he’s a power bat at a position of need, and could line up with the team’s timetable for contention — such a move would still rate as a surprise. Atlanta only just got out from under the ill-fated Melvin Upton contract, which showed the risk of such a free agent signing given the team’s recent payroll restrictions, and Cespedes could well cost twice or more what Upton did ($75MM).
  • Early returns on the summer trade hauls of the Phillies and Brewers have been positive. There is some nice buzz around Philadelphia’s system, especially with all the depth its added in recent months and the intriguing players that came over for Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman. Meanwhile, Milwaukee’s return for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers has looked rather compelling, with Domingo Santana raking in his early MLB action and the trio of other players finishing strong at Double-A. (Remember: the key player in that deal, Brett Phillips, joined the MLBTR Podcast just after being swapped, as did righty Zach Davies, who is now in the big leagues after being acquired for Gerardo Parra.)
  • Mets VP of player development and scouting Paul DePodesta has been plugging away at that post for five years, and the fruits of his labors are now showing at the big league level. Rosenthal reports that the former Dodgers general manager “would consider returning to a GM’s role” with another organization, if the circumstances were right, though many still believe he’ll ultimately take over in New York for Sandy Alderson at some point.

Mets Notes: DePodesta, Rotation, Collins

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The Mets will try to slow the Cardinals' bid for a playoff berth when the two teams take the field in St. Louis tonight. In the meantime, here are some Mets-related links… 

  • Mets executive Paul DePodesta told Bill Plaschke of the LA Times that he doesn't particularly want to become a general manager again. "From my perspective, it's not necessarily a great job," he said. DePodesta was the Dodgers’ GM in 2004 and 2005.
  • GM Sandy Alderson said on last night's TV broadcast that he expects to have a similar rotation next season, according to Michael Baron of MetsBlog. Alderson is hoping for growth from Mike Pelfrey and Jonathon Niese and Baron is hoping that the rotation will go deeper into games.
  • Alderson says that if the Mets make changes to spacious Citi Field for next year they won't be subtle, according to Andrew Keh of the New York Times. The Mets are interested in making the three-year-old park more fair and Alderson knows that "offense sells."
  • It doesn’t appear that the Mets are going to sign manager Terry Collins to an extension in the near future, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. The skipper is under contract in 2012 and the Mets have a team option for 2013.

Mets Notes: Reyes, Einhorn, DePodesta

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A few items of note regarding the Amazin's as they take on the Marlins at Citi Field:

  • In the wake of the announcement that the Mets' partial sale to David Einhorn fell through, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com wonders whether the Mets will be able to re-sign impending-free-agent shortstop Jose Reyes. The Mets' payroll is expected to be somewhere around $110MM in 2012, with $55MM already tied up in the combined salaries of Johan Santana, Jason Bay and David Wright.
  • The Wilpons, the Mets' majority owners, interpreted Einhorn's interest in seeking pre-approval to become controlling partner five years from now as a sign of his true intent, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. The deal was never a good one for the Mets, opines Heyman, who adds that a partnership is bound to fail when one side of it is banking on the failure of the other (Twitter links). I think Jon's on the mark with that.
  • Mets vice president of player development and amateur scouting Paul DePodesta has come a long way from his portrayal in the book Moneyball as a number-crunching sabermetrician, writes Tom Krasovic of Inside the Padres. I strongly recommend this piece, as Krasovic does a nice job depicting DePodesta's balancing act between evaluating numbers and old-school scouting.
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