The Colorado Rockies turned to a former member of the Dodgers’ front office to run their organization, hiring former Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta as their new president of baseball operations. Now DePodesta is dipping into the Dodgers’ front office to hire his second in command.
The Rockies have hired Josh Byrnes as general manager under DePodesta. This is Byrnes’ second stint with the Rockies. He was an assistant GM under Dan O’Dowd from 1999 through 2002.
DePodesta and Byrnes have a difficult job ahead, rebuilding things in Colorado. The Rockies have lost more than 100 games each of the past three seasons and finished last in the National League West each of the past four.
Byrnes, 55, has been with the Dodgers since the 2015 season. He was hired shortly after Andrew Friedman took over the front office. As senior vice president of baseball operations, Byrnes has been involved in the franchise’s scouting and player development.
Byrnes began his career in baseball with the then-Cleveland Indians under GM John Hart, working as an advance scout and scouting director. Also starting his career in the Cleveland scouting department at that time was DePodesta, who went on to serve as the Dodgers’ GM in 2004 and 2005.
Before joining the Dodgers, Byrnes served as the GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks (2006-10) and San Diego Padres (2011-12).