After waiting for what seemed like forever, the main trio of the Rockies rebuild is complete. The team officially announced yesterday that they have hired their general manager: Josh Byrnes.

Byrnes most recently served as the senior vice president of baseball operations for the formidable Los Angeles Dodgers and had been in that position since 2014. He served under Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes as the third-highest level executive in the Dodgers’ front office. Prior to that, he also served as the GM for the San Diego Padres (2011-2014) and Arizona Diamondbacks (2005-2010). He worked as an assistant GM for the Red Sox in 2003 and 2004.

It seems like Byrnes knows how to win.

So, what does Byrnes bring to the table in what has been a surprisingly eventful offseason?

With the Dodgers, Byrnes was part of a perennial contender. After he joined the organization in 2014 he was never part of a team who lost fewer than 90 games (or had a lower winning percentage than .562, if you include the 2020 season). That included five of their best winning percentages since moving to LA in 1958. Additionally, the Dodgers also won the NL West in 10 of his 11 years there, including three World Series wins (in five appearances). Not a huge deal.

While Byrnes was with the Padres, they held a middling record. The teams he oversaw never posted more than 77 wins, nor did they finish higher than third in the NL West, but they got better every year.

With the Diamondbacks, Byrnes posted a bell-curve record. They posted a 90-72 record in 2007 and won the NL West, and they also finished second twice. But they also finished last in his final two years at the helm.

And finally, before moving west, Byrnes spent time with the Red Sox. In fact, his second year as assistant GM to Theo Epstein was the year they finally broke the “Curse of the Bambino” and won the World Series.

In total, Byrnes has a 1,890-1,645 record (.535) in a baseball ops department.

Player Development History

Byrnes began his career with the Rockies in 1999 under Dan O’Dowd as an assistant GM in charge of the farm system and scouting departments. During his tenure as an executive, Byrnes has drafted and developed well, and did so with limited payroll in his pre-Dodger days. This bodes well for the Rockies.

He has drafted players such as:

PlayerYear/RoundCareer rWARPaul Goldschmidt2009, 8th round63.8AJ Pollock2009, 1st round22.1Adam Eaton2010, 19th round18.9Trea Turner2014, 1st round41.9Max Fried2012, 1st round28.4Hunter Renfroe2013, 1st round8.7Gavin Lux2016, 1st round7.2Tony Gonsolin2016, 9th round7.7Will Smith2016, 1st round23.0Walker Buehler2015, 1st round12.3Chase Anderson2009, 9th round7.2Wade Miley2008, CBA round18.6Max Scherzer2006, 1st round75.6Justin Upton2005, 1st round32.2

That’s a pretty good list! Additionally, he oversaw Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger being named NL Rookies of the Year in 2016 and 2017, as well as Buehler, Gonsolin and Dustin May receiving votes in their respective rookie years.

That said, he did trade Max Scherzer to the Detroit Tigers in 2009. But you make some good choices, and you make some bad choices. Hindsight is always 2020.

Additionally, he had a hand in signings such as Shohei Ohtani (free agent), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (free agent), Freddie Freeman (free agent), Mookie Betts (trade), Kiké Hernández (trade), Blake Snell (free agent), Tyler Glasnow (trade), Max Muncy (free agent), Roki Sasaki (free agent), Teoscar Hernández (free agent), and others.

A combination of winning and successful drafting proved key to put the hire over the finish line. Not only have the Dodgers won 12 of the last 13 NL West titles and three World Series in the last six years, but their farm systems are consistently in the Top 10 of the rankings.

The Dodgers also expanded their scouting heavily into Asia, as seen especially by the signings of Yamamoto and Sasaki. It is a place where the Rockies have not historically spent a lot of their time, but there are some interesting names who will be posted this offseason. Perhaps the Rockies will start looking east for reinforcements again.

Finally, he has a history of working with DePodesta, dating back even to their high school years.

“Josh and I’ve known each other now for over 30 years,” DePodesta told Thomas Harding. “I’ve said this before, I’m sure you’ll hear me say it again: I feel like I get smarter every time I talk to him — that was my first day in Cleveland, and continues all the way up until today.”

And for someone as analytical as DePodesta appears to be, it appears that Byrnes is equally as meticulous.

“I’ve always been sort of, really, taken by his intelligence, his intense level of detail,” DePodesta continued. “He sees things in our game that most of the rest of us just don’t see or just don’t pay attention to. That’s always fascinated me.”
Byrnes is an external candidate like DePodesta was, but their connection both to each other and the Rockies organization proves they can continue to be a blend of new culture and old guard.

The last few months really have signaled a new era of Colorado Rockies baseball. Not only did they hire two external candidates to head up their baseball ops department, but they have so far been more visible and transparent. On top of the introductory press conferences for Paul DePodesta and Warren Schaeffer, Walker Monfort also spoke on the DNVR Podcast on Tuesday. That is not something we have seen from a Monfort in many years.

It appears as though a historically-bad 2025 season did light a spark (or a wildfire) under Dick Monfort and they are looking to right the ship. Hiring these three seems like a really big step in the right direction.

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