The Cleveland Browns are in a very Cleveland Browns type of situation. Kevin Stefanski’s team is 2-6, at the foot of the AFC North and will likely be looking toward next season soon, if not already. Now, a member of the front office has shown himself the door.
“#Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta is leaving the Browns to become head of baseball operations for the Colorado Rockies, a league source confirms,” Cleveland.com Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot wrote Wednesday on X.
DePodesta, 52, joined the Browns in 2016 after 20 seasons in Major League Baseball, where he won divisional crowns with five different clubs. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam trusted him to head the search for a new head coach and general manager in 2020, landing on Stefanski and Andrew Berry, respectively.
DePodesta’s bio on the Browns’ team website said he was “tasked with implementing systems and processes to strengthen the Browns organization.”
While DePodesta was part of the franchise, the Browns went 55-99-1 in the regular season. That mark included an infamous winless go-round during DePodesta’s second year, but Cleveland did win its first postseason game since 1994 during Stefanski’s first campaign at the helm. However, he wasn’t on the sideline for that road victory over the rival Pittsburgh Steelers due to having tested positive for COVID-19.