According to the Tribune Chronicle, Thursday’s announcement was made on the condition of anonymity as the move has not been announced officially by the team.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
It would mark a homecoming of sorts for DePodesta, who built a two-decade career in baseball with stints at the Cleveland Guardians, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres (as a special assistant), New York Mets (as vice president of player development and scouting), and a nearly two-year run as general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ken Rosenthal with the New York Times writes DePodesta has reportedly been talking with the Rockies about the position for the past month.
“The Browns are 56-99-1 since bringing on DePodesta, who was hired in Jan. 2016 with the franchise arguably in worse shape than it is now,” the article states.
Social media lit up with reaction to DePodesta’s departure.
- Clearly no one realizes he’s not a football guy….
- Awesome to see they’re hiring from such a great organization known for its history of winning!
- Well, the Rockies are the Cleveland Browns of baseball. He’ll fit right in.
- Very wise decision Colorado, congratulations on an excellent hire. ~Cleveland Fans
According to the Browns Wire on “USA Today,” his tenure will be inextricably linked to one of the most controversial decisions in franchise history — DePodesta was reportedly one of the few high-ranking members of the front office who was directly involved in facilitating and advocating for the blockbuster 2022 trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
“That single move, which mortgaged the team’s future with three first-round draft picks and included $230 million in fully guaranteed money, is now widely regarded as one of the most disastrous trades in the history of organized sports,” the article says.
In Friday morning’s edition of the “Orange and Brown Report” (OBR), theobr.com, OBR founder and publisher Barry McBride didn’t hold back in his commentary about the “mysterious Paul DePodesta.”
“The team was awful when he joined the organization, and it remains terrible to this day,” he wrote. “All the synthesis of processes and analytics he brought to the organization hasn’t impacted the product visible to consumers.”
McBride said he hopes DePodesta learned vital lessons during his time with the Browns that will help him succeed with the Rockies.
“Although it doesn’t matter at all to the long-suffering Browns fans who witnessed his time in Cleveland,” he wrote. “To all of those who care about the Browns, we’re uncertain whether we’re better off or worse off without him.”
An online article of the Cleveland Plain Dealer asks whether DePodesta was just an easy scapegoat for the Browns or rather the architect of the team’s downfall.
The article points to a discussion on the Orange and Brown Talk podcast, when Browns beat reporter Ashley Bastock said DePodesta “had become sort of this boogeyman for Browns fans, like this guy that you could blame a lot on as a fan. Fans didn’t really know what he did.”
The article reports that Orange and Brown Talk host Dan Labbe struggled to definitively assess DePodesta’s legacy, saying “I don’t know how we ultimately write the Paul DePodesta legacy chapter of the Browns book because there wasn’t a lot of winning there. There were clear plans. Did they work? Maybe a little bit, but not fully.”
With DePodesta’s departure, the article concludes, the focus now shifts to whether this represents a real change in direction for the Browns – or simply a reshuffling of front office desk chairs.
Content Creator Brooke Bunch may be reached at brooke_bunch@yahoo.com.
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