Since DePodesta joined the Browns front office in 2016, the team has posted a record of 56-99-1.
CLEVELAND — Paul DePodesta, the Cleveland Browns‘ chief strategy officer, is reportedly heading back to Major League Baseball to become the head of baseball operations for the Colorado Rockies.
The story was first reported by Ken Rosenthal, Zac Jackson and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic and has been confirmed by Mary Kay Cabot of 3News media partner Cleveland.com.
DePodesta has been with the Browns since January of 2016, when the franchise made a dramatic shift from a traditional football-based front office to one driven largely by analytics. During that time, Cleveland has seen three full-time head coaches and general managers, but DePodesta has remained the one constant.
“We want to thank Paul for his contributions to the Cleveland Browns over the past nine and a half seasons,” team owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam wrote in a statement. “Paul’s humble and egoless approach encouraged a culture of teamwork and collaboration. He helped modernize our research and analytics departments and his broad background in professional sports brought a different perspective to our organization. We appreciate the valued role he played in our organization as a member of our leadership team and wish him all the best in his return to Major League Baseball with the Colorado Rockies.”
In his near decade-long time with the Browns, it has never quite been clear what his exact role with the team was. For instance, in a 2020 press conference in Berea, here’s how DePodesta answered the question, “What is it that you do?”
“My role, first and foremost, is to help us create [a] shared vision but also implement that shared vision and make sure we stick to it relentlessly,” he said. “I look at all the processes that are within a football operation, whether that’s hiring someone, whether that’s how we do scouting, whether that’s how we look at things with numbers. … I dig into all those processes and make sure they align with our vision and make sure we all stay on the same page.”
What was clear during DePodesta’s tenure in Cleveland is that he played a key role in any major decision the franchise took. For instance, he headed up the 2020 coaching search that landed Kevin Stefanski following the failed hirings of Hue Jackson and Freddie Kitchens (both allegedly against the wishes of DePodesta and the analytics department).
Amid all of the processes and “shared visions” that DePodesta tried to bring over to the NFL from his “Moneyball” experiences, the most important numbers were the wins and losses. Heading into this Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, the Browns are 56-99-1 since 2016. They have made the playoffs twice, but also were 1-15 in 2016 and 0-16 in 2017 — and have still not been able to find a reliable franchise quarterback.
Prior to his time with the Browns, DePodesta made his mark in baseball, actually working for the Cleveland Indians from 1996-98 and working his way up to special assistant to general manager John Hart. He then became a top lieutenant to Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane as that organization became a pioneer in advanced metrics, and he was heavily featured in Michael Lewis’ groundbreaking book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.” The character of Peter Brand in the eponymous Bennett Miller film was based on DePodesta and played by Jonah Hill, who received an Oscar nomination for the role.
DePodesta soon got his own shot to run a team in 2004, when he became general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He guided them to a NL West Division title during his first season, but was fired following a 71-91 record in 2005. He later worked for both the San Diego Padres and New York Mets before being hired by the Browns.
In their 33-year history, the Rockies have made it past the divisional round of the playoffs just one time. In 2025, the club bottomed out at 43-119 — the worst record by an NL team since 1962. Both GM Bill Schmidt and manager Bud Black were fired as a result.