Jeff Bridich named new Colorado Rockies general manager
After serving in several roles with within the organization over the past decade, Jeff Bridich will become the new general manager of the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday afternoon, according to a release from the team.
“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,” Rockies owner, chairman and CEO Dick Monfort said. “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, most recently held the role of senior director of player development with the Rockies. However, his tenure with the organization began back in 2004, when we was appointed the manager of Minor League Operations. He advanced to the position of senior director of baseball operations in 2006 before taking his most recent job in 2011.
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Colorado finished at 66-96 in 2014, and the team has not put together a winning record since 2010. Since that season, the Rockies have compiled a 277-371 record, never finishing higher than fourth-place in a competitive National League West. Under Dan O’Dowd, who was the fourth-longest tenured general manager in the game today, behind only Billy Beane, Brian Sabean and Brian Cashman, the team never won a division title, but did make two trips to the postseason, including a World Series run in 2007.
During his tenure, which began in 1999, the Rockies eclipsed the 3 million attendance mark just twice – and drew just under 2.7 million during the 2014 season.
Of late, injuries to major pieces, including Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, have hampered the big league club’s success, and, despite re-shuffling in the front office in 2012, the team continued to struggle. The organization has a news conference slated for Wednesday afternoon.
Both O’Dowd and senior vice president of Major League operations Bill Geivett resigned their respective positions.