New Rockies GM Wants Franchise to Join Denver’s Pro Sports Success Stories

The Colorado Rockies are straggling behind the rest of the Denver pro sports scene and new general manager Josh Byrnes wants to change that.

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This isn’t Josh Byrnes’ first time in Denver. The new Colorado Rockies general manager is the Rockies’ former assistant general manager.

In 2000 he joined the franchise from Cleveland as the assistant general manager and was put in charge of the Rockies’ minor leagues and scouting department. He left after three seasons to join the Boston Red Sox, won a World Series ring and then became the GM with both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres.

He’s spent the last decade in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ front office and won three more World Series rings. Now, he is joining president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta’s team to try and turn around a Rockies franchise that lost 119 games in 2025, the team’s third straight 100-loss season.

He enters the job knowing the organization is lagging behind the rest of the Denver pro sports scene, reports Denver Post columnist Troy Renck on X (formerly Twitter).

Josh Byrnes on Denver Pro Sports

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During the call, Byrnes was asked about the Rockies hopefully catching up with the Denver Broncos, the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets when it comes to recent success. After seven straight losing season, Byrnes sure hopes so.

"That is the challenge,” Byrnes said. “The big challenge. I wouldn’t come here without some optimism and confidence that we can get there. The excitement around those teams in Denver who are winning, you can feel, I am sure. And we want to be part of that without a doubt."

The Broncos are surging under third-year head coach Sean Payton and second-year quarterback Bo Nix. Denver went 10-7 last year and made the playoffs with Nix as a rookie. This season the Broncos are already 10-2 and have the second-best record in the AFC.

The Avalanche have won three Stanley Cups since moving from Quebec, with the most recent in 2022. They’ve remained a playoff team since hoisting the Cup.

The Nuggets won their first NBA world championship in 2023 and is led by center Nikola Jokic, who has been named the league’s most valuable player three times since 2021.

The Rockies went to the World Series for the first time in 2007, losing in four games to the New York Yankees. Since then, Colorado has only reached the playoffs three other times, most recently in 2018. In 2025, the Rockies fired their manager, Bud Black, and allowed their general manager, Bill Schmidt, to step away.

Colorado hired DePodesta in November and he opted to keep interim manager Warren Schaeffer in the full-time role next season. The trio will be at the MLB winter meetings next week in Orlando.

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