DENVER -- When new Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta was working in the front office of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns but considering a return to baseball, he thought he would seek the help of an old colleague from his earlier baseball life, Josh Byrnes.
The pair that started their baseball operations careers together with Cleveland in the late 1990s was reunited this week, with Byrnes becoming the Rockies’ new general manager. But as Byrnes noted, this is not to “tell old stories about what we’ve done,” but to correct an organization whose story is one of struggle -- seven straight losing seasons, including a league-worst 43-119 record in 2025.
Byrnes comes with the credibility of working for four World Series champions, the Red Sox in 2004 and the Dodgers in 2020, 2024 and 2025, as well as terms as GM with the Diamondbacks and Padres. During a press conference that served as a reintroduction for Byrnes, 55, who was the Rockies’ assistant GM during the 2000-02 seasons, the message was clear.
“Most important is picking the right players and then maxing out what they can do,” said Byrnes, who spent the last 11 years with the Dodgers as a vice president who oversaw scouting and player development.
Here are five storylines to watch as Byrnes and DePodesta get to work on retooling the Rockies, starting Monday at the MLB Winter Meetings:
1. Byrnes never forgot how the other half lived
The Rockies don’t operate in the same financial neighborhood as the Dodgers, but Byrnes noted that the mentality in his part of the operation is a winning one everywhere.
“From day one with the Dodgers, we wanted to be a big market team -- use our spending power -- but also be a small market team and be very good in baseball operations: scouting, development, performance, science, analytics. That applies to all 30 teams, regardless of what your payroll capacity is.”
2. Indications are the Rockies will invest in information technologies that other teams have used to fuel teaching and decision making, but it’s up to new leadership to make sure the humans use the gadgets properly.
“There's been real energy behind investing in the baseball operation -- I won't get into the details of exactly how we plan to allocate some of those funds, but there's a real appetite for that,” DePodesta said. “They realize that, or we all realize that it's a necessity in order to compete in today's game.
“Josh and I have both been in situations with immense resources. We've also been in situations that have had lesser resources, also by a significant amount. We feel very comfortable with … what's available here.”
DePodesta noted during the General Managers Meetings last month that the Rockies are not as behind technologically as the industry believed, but application from top to bottom has been haphazard at best. The scouting, planning and coaching under Byrnes’ watch with the Dodgers has been described as fingers interlocking, rather than pointing.
“You also need an organization that fits together and there are no silos or anything like that,” Byrnes said.
3. A long-held Rockies belief has been that winning with homegrown talent means more, but has that gotten in the way of winning … period? Don’t expect the Rockies to be big players in free agency, but expect them to turn over other stones in search of improvement.
Byrnes loves the MLB Draft and noted that, “I seldom come across a player who can't recite every detail of his Draft story and who was involved, because that means a lot to him.”
But the goal is to develop contributors, regardless how they arrive.
“We could trade for a guy when I was with the Dodgers -- waiver claim, whatever -- and there was an energy of, ‘OK, I’ve come to a place where they can get the best out of me,’” Byrnes said. “So even if it's your first day in the organization, or you come up through the system, at that point every player is the same. They're all wearing the same uniform.”
The openness to players outside the organization could be a tradeoff -- literally. DePodesta has mentioned that there are areas of depth the Rockies potentially can use in trades.
Hours after Byrnes and DePodesta spoke, the club waived 2020 35th overall pick Drew Romo, a catcher who was claimed by the Orioles, and right-handed pitcher Anthony Molina, a Rule 5 pick who has had ups and downs over two seasons. Molina was claimed by the Braves.
4. Issue to watch: Because of poor records in recent years, the Rockies have been near the top of the game in international signing bonus money. Where do the players already in the system fit?
The Rockies stepped up their signing in Latin America -- especially of hitters -- after adding a second team in the Dominican Summer League in 2018. But by the end of 2025, only shortstop Ezequiel Tovar was a regular, although first baseman Warming Bernabel and outfielder Yanquiel Fernández cracked the lineup late in the season.
The Rockies under DePodesta have moved away from three recent first-rounders -- lefty reliever Ryan Rolison (2018), who was traded to the Braves; first baseman Michael Toglia (2019), who was non-tendered; and Romo. But DePodesta said there is talent in the system.
“Not only internationally, but even domestically, there are some players that certainly the industry has recognized as having a lot of talent,” DePodesta said. “Now it's up to us to actually get them to realize that, and maybe even find some that not everybody else saw was there.”
5. What’s next?
The Rockies are in the process of interviewing for the coaching staff of manager Warren Schaeffer, who was promoted last week after serving as interim manager since May. They have several front-office positions to fill as well, while Byrnes also said he is catching up on the roster heading into the Winter Meetings.
DePodesta has spent most of his time since taking the job in early November acquainting himself with folks already in the organization, and things “in my mind are probably more additive, as opposed to feeling like you need to change a bunch of things.”
The near-wholesale change will happen in pitching, with the departures of pitching coach Darryl Scott and bullpen coach Dustin Garneau (now the Braves’ catching coach) in the Majors, and pitching strategist Flint Wallace and pitching coordinator Doug Linton in the Minors.