Bright, analytical, Harvard educated, part of the wave of young executives that have flooded baseball.
That’s a snapshot of as their general manager. O’Dowd and assistant GM Bill Geivett resigned.
“We are very fortunate to have an extremely bright, energetic and talented group of individuals currently within our own organization that are ready and eager to utilize their skills and experience,” owner Dick Monfort said in a statement. “I know Jeff is anxious to begin working on the goal of putting a championship team on the field that the Rockies staff, our fans and our region deserve.”
Bridich, 37, has spent most of his professional life in the Rockies organization, serving as O’Dowd’s right-hand man for much of that time. He’s served the past three years as the club’s senior director of player development.
He knows baseball — he played four years at Harvard — and he’s a whiz with numbers and payroll. But given the Rockies four consecutive losing seasons and the fact that he’s being promoted from within, Bridich will be under the gun immediately.
When the Rockies introduce him Wednesday afternoon at a press conference, I’m sure many questions will have to do with why the Rockies hired from within instead of doing a search outside the organization.
(home of the Rockies High-A farm team), Bridich said:
“The last couple of years at the big-league level, we’ve come out of the gates like stallions, and things have happened, whether injury or regression of play, or a combination of those. Whether right or wrong, internally or with the media and fans, they all look to the big-league level to gauge the health of the organization. That’s why that level is always so important. You try to maintain perspective in the minor-league levels as to what you’re evaluating and what you’re not.
“If you say that we have all the answers to all our problems right here, right now in development, and you become blind because of that, then you’ve done a disservice to the organization. You have to stay true to the core things you’re trying to develop and make sure your players continue to understand the expectations of the organization going forward.”
Tags: Bill Geivett, Dan O’Dowd, Dick Monfort, Jeff Bridich
