Rockies begin franchise makeover under DePodesta

DENVER (AP) — Two months ago, the Colorado Rockies assembled more than 300 of their scouts, coaches, business personnel and new baseball minds for a meeting at Coors Field. First order of business: An introduction. The main item: Getting everyone on the same page. Because turning around a franchise that has lost 100 or more games in three straight seasons (including 119 in 2025) doesn't happen overnight. Before change can occur, a front office now led by Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes wanted to identify specific traits that would come to embody the Rockies. That way, there would be a consistent message emanating from the major league level all the way through the minors. The Rockies are developing a blueprint from an exchange of ideas that took place in January — and before — with their baseball staff, some of whom journeyed in from the Dominican Republic. "I would say the bones of it are already in place," said DePodesta, the recently hired president of baseball operations. Any sneak peeks? "Probably not ready," DePodesta said with a smile. "But I'm really excited about everybody's reaction to it so far. It's more about, 'Hey, how are we going to work together? What is our pitching staff going to look like, not just at the big league level, but throughout? What do we like about hitters? How do all those things tie together?'" It's at least a step in a direction, any direction, and not just status quo for a Rockies team that hasn't been to the playoffs since 2018. It's part of a promise made to Colorado fans last season by team president Walker Monfort, the son of owner Dick Monfort. Hence, new leadership, a unified approach and enhanced reliance on analytics. "They're all very curious people. They want to find solutions," Walker Monfort said of a front office brought in from the football/analytics world (DePodesta was with the Cleveland Browns) and a World Series-winning culture (Byrnes spent a decade with the Dodgers). "They want to embrace our challenges and figure them out. From that perspective, I couldn't be more excited." Moneyball and DePodesta Yes, Monfort has seen "Moneyball," a movie based on the Michael Lewis novel about the 2002 A's who captured the AL West despite a small payroll. And of course, Monfort would like nothing more than to see the Rockies be the NL West version of it. Back then, DePodesta was a key figure among a new generation of analytical thinkers who changed the sport. He inspired the Jonah Hill character in the film that starred Brad Pitt as GM Billy Beane. "Finding value where others are not, that's intriguing," Monfort said. But taking that to a higher elevation at Coors Field will be an uphill climb. Colorado finished second-to-last in runs scored per game (3.69) in 2025. They were also at the bottom in ERA (5.97) and first in homers allowed (251). Colorado started addressing some of the pitching needs by bringing in righties Michael Lorenzen and Tomoyuki Sugano, along with lefty Jose Quintana. They plugged holes with versatile infielder Willi Castro and by trading for outfielder Jake McCarthy. "There's a lot to the types of players we want," said Byrnes, who spent the last 11 seasons with the Dodgers as their senior vice president of baseball operations. "And there are going to be preferences and philosophies behind that. "Obviously, there's a lot of work to be done." The road back to be competitive For now, there are no radical approaches — like a six-man rotation — in the works to solve the pitching issues at Coors Field. What plays well at Coors seems to be high velocity. The Rockies, though, are pushing for expanded pitch repertoires. Lorenzen, for instance, throws seven different pitches. "Big arsenals are going to be harder to game-plan against," Rockies pitching coach Alon Leichman explained. "We think that's an advantage. The more weapons you have, the more random you can be." The process of change For now, DePodesta's objective lies with building a solid foundation. They have a young nucleus in All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who helped Venezuela to a World Baseball Classic title. On the horizon, there's Ethan Holliday, the No. 4 pick in the amateur draft last season and son of Rockies great Matt Holliday, who led the team to their only World Series appearance in 2007. There's no rushing the process, though. "It's really trying to understand what the strengths are of the organization to begin with," DePodesta explained, "as opposed to trying to change everything." Same sentiment for Byrnes, who worked with DePodesta in Cleveland in the 1990s. The specifics of their plan will factor into how the Rockies think about hitters in the draft, how they coach defense and base running throughout the organization and how they employ analytics with pitching discussions. "There's a lot of branches on the tree," Byrnes said. "The Rockies way is being good at all of that. ... I don't think there's a short answer." The process may be involved, but the end result is rather simple for Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer. "Winning," Schaeffer said. "That should be non-negotiable." ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb