Hiring Paul DePodesta Is a Gamble Rockies Couldn't Afford to Make

The Colorado Rockies made a risky hire, and they better be sure it's going to work.

Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The mystery about who the Colorado Rockies were going to hire to lead their baseball operations department was solved when they dropped the bombshell that they were hiring Paul DePodesta.

They lived up to their promise that they were going to bring someone in from outside the organization. But they shocked everyone when they brought someone in who is from outside the sport.

That's right. DePodesta hasn't worked in baseball since 2016. And he hasn't run a front office since 2005 when he was fired as the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers after he was hired in February of 2004.

If the Rockies would have made this hire 10 years ago, it would have made a ton of sense. DePodesta was an early adopter of sabermetrics alongside then-Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane in 1999. That got him portrayed by Jonah Hill in the movie "Moneyball" after he was a key part in the book of the same name written by Michael Lewis.

Rockies Made Beyond Questionable Decision by Hiring Paul DePodesta

Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

But the fact of the matter is, the game has long adapted to sabermetrics, analytics and any other data term that can be thrown out there. So simply put, the once forward-thinking up-and-coming baseball executive is now relic in his own sport after deciding to spend almost a decade away.

And based on where Colorado is as a franchise, this was a hire they simply couldn't afford to make. That's not to say it's a given that DePodesta will fail. But it's hard to imagine he's going to walk into one of the most dysfunctionally run organizations in baseball after being gone for nine years and get this team back on track.

To simplify things even further; the Rockies did what only the Rockies could do, and that's make a complete laughing stock out of themselves.

The Colorado Rockies announced today that Paul DePodesta has been named the club’s president of baseball operations, effective immediately.

Welcome to Denver, Paul! pic.twitter.com/dtb4M3TD88

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) November 7, 2025

Where was Thad Levine? Reports indicated the former Colorado employee and well-respected GM of the Minnesota Twins who was backed by notable franchise icon Matt Holliday didn't even get an interview.

What happened with James Click? The former World Series-winning general manager appears to have been out after the first round of interviews. And could they really not get something worked out with either Amiel Sawdaye or Matt Forman? Both are assistant GMs who are looking to take the next steps in their careers.

The entire process had the illusion of being a professional one. Walker Monfort, the team's executive vice president, was supposedly running the search while his father, owner Dick Monfort, was not involved. And for a while, it seemed like the Rockies were going to land someone that gave hope about the future. Instead, they hired DePodesta and made themselves the butt of the joke once more.

Again, there's a chance this hire works out for Colorado. Perhaps DePodesta was dreaming about baseball for the nine years he was away, envisioning what he would do if he just got another chance to run a front office.

But that doesn't change the fact that this is a gamble. And based on the state of the franchise, it's one they couldn't afford to make.

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