According to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, Paul DePodesta will be leaving the Mets front office to join the Cleveland Browns as chief strategy officer.
In his new role, DePodesta will be essentially running the football side of the franchise, reporting directly to owner Jimmy Haslam. According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, DePodesta will be independent of newly-hired executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown. DePodesta will presumably be tasked with bringing some of his analytics experience to the Browns front office.
DePodesta has been with the Mets since the hiring of Sandy Alderson before the 2011 season. During his five years, he has run the scouting and player development side of the organization, helping to develop players like Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Travis d’Arnaud, and Matt Harvey.
DePodesta had a rocky two-year tenure as general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2004 and 2005, his only experience as head of a professional sports team. In 2004, he guided the team to its first division title since 1988, but was gone after a 71-win season in 2005. DePodesta has also worked for the Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics, and San Diego Padres.
This would not be the first time DePodesta has ventured outside of baseball. He has worked for the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League and the Baltimore Bandits of the American Hockey League. He also played both football and baseball while studying economics at Harvard University.
DePodesta’s departure could have long-term ramifications for the Mets’ front office. DePodesta was the presumed heir to Sandy Alderson as general manager. He has been a close aide to Alderson throughout the Mets’ rebuilding process and made major changes on the player development side.
“Paul completely reorganized the Mets scouting and player development functions and had an extraordinary impact in both areas, but he was also very directly involved in our trade and free agent acquisitions,” Alderson said in a statement, “His commitment to excellence and his passion for innovation will be missed by the Mets and all of Baseball.”
Jeff Wilpon also released a statement, saying: “Working with Sandy, Paul put into process a new approach toward player development throughout our organization. Ownership and all of us at the Mets thank Paul for his tireless efforts. We look forward to seeing Paul’s continued success with the Browns.”
DePodesta certainly left a big mark on the organization and baseball as a whole. He now leaves the Mets with some big shoes to fill.
