Rockies Assistant GM Zack Rosenthal Resigns
Rockies VP of baseball operations and assistant general manager Zack Rosenthal has resigned from the organization, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports. Rosenthal has been in the assistant GM role since the 2014-15 offseason, and the VP position was added to his portfolio following the 2021 season, after Bill Schmidt was elevated from interim GM to the full-time job.
Schmidt is now out after a disastrous four-year run, as Colorado has won only 231 games since Opening Day 2022. This year’s squad was simply one of the worst teams in MLB history, with an astonishing 43-119 record and the worst rotation ERA (6.65) and run differential (-424) in baseball’s modern era. Ownership has already stated that the Rockies’ next front office boss will be someone from outside the organization, which seems like a long overdue step for a club often criticized for being too insular and not in touch with analytical and developments trends are commonplace in the sport.
With this in mind, it isn’t surprising that other longtime front office staffers like Rosenthal are on the way out, as the next top executive will likely have a wide berth to bring in their own personnel. Since Schmidt’s title was GM rather than president of baseball operations, Rosenthal was his de facto number two, as the Rockies’ only assistant general manager.
Rosenthal told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (multiple links) that he made his own decision to step away. “I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to stay with one single organization for 20-plus years,” Rosenthal said. “So many amazing experiences and memories. My first full-time season was the World Series year [in 2007]. That was magical…I want nothing but success for the Rockies. This city deserves a team that competes, because there’s nothing like Coors Field in October.”
Starting his baseball career as an account manager with the A’s and as an intern with the Red Sox, Rosenthal arrived in Denver in 2006 as a player development intern. From there, he became a baseball ops assistant and then the director of baseball operations. Beyond just the baseball-specific duties, Rosenthal was also the Rockies’ assistant general counsel for much of his time with the club, dealing with legal matters related to front office matters and the team’s business operations.
Latest On Rockies’ GM Position
For the first time since 2014, the Rockies are in the market for a new general manager. Jeff Bridich spent the past six-plus years as the Rockies’ GM, but he and the team went their separate ways Monday. Colorado will appoint an interim GM for the rest of the 2021 campaign – likely scouting director Bill Schmidt or assistant GM Zack Rosenthal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports – and then hire a permanent replacement for Bridich after the season.
Although Bridich has only been out of a job for a few hours, a potential successor from outside the organization has already emerged. Twins GM Thad Levine is “[t]he leading candidate” for the opening in Colorado, Nightengale writes. There’s familiarity between the Rockies and the 49-year-old Levine, who worked in their front office in various roles – including senior director of baseball operations – from 1999-2005. He then left to become the Rangers’ assistant GM, but not before earning the respect of Rockies owner Dick Monfort, according to Nightengale.
Along with president of baseball operations Derek Falvey, Levine has helped lead a turnaround in Minnesota since his hiring after the 2016 season. The Twins, then coming off a 59-win season, have gone to the playoffs three times and won two American League Central titles during the Falvey-Levine reign. As a result of the positive on-field results, Levine has garnered interest from other organizations during his time with the Twins. The Mets wanted to interview Levine for their GM job back in 2018, and he was a legitimate candidate to take over the Phillies’ front office this past offseason. Levine backed out of the running for that post, which ultimately went to Dave Dombrowski.
It’s not known whether Levine would have interest in leaving Minnesota for Colorado. Levine is currently under contract with the Twins through 2024 on the extension he signed in 2019.