What is going on with Adam Ottavino and the Rockies front office?
A look inside the Rockies search for a new head of baseball operations:
How the Colorado Rockies plan to fill their vacant head of baseball operations position has quickly become one of the most fascinating storylines of this young offseason.
After three straight seasons of 100+ losses, including an MLB and organization-worst 119 loss season this year, the Rockies announced that they were moving on from general manager Bill Schmidt. Schmidt began his career with the Rockies in 1999 as a scout and eventually worked his way up to general manager in 2021.
In many ways, Schmidt represented a belief throughout baseball that the Rockies were too insular and resistant to any sort of new ideas. Rockies owner Dick Monfort, whose son and Rockies executive vice president Walker Monfort is leading the search for a new face of the front office, is trying to change that perception.
“As with any transition, Bill [Schmidt’s] departure allows our club to seek a new leader of our baseball department experienced in areas where we know we need to grow within the operation,” Dick Monfort said in the release announcing Schmidt’s departure. “A new voice will benefit our organization as we work towards giving our fans the competitive team they deserve.”
On Monday, The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli reported that the two finalists for the Rockies’ head of baseball operations, Arizona Diamondbacks assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye and Cleveland Guardians assistant general manager Matt Forman, were no longer in the running for the position. On Tuesday, The New York Post’s Jon Heyman added some additional context, reporting that one declined an offer and the other dropped out.
Another, more surprising name has also been linked to the Rockies job–Adam Ottavino. According to The Boston Globe’s Tim Healy, Ottavino “has spoken with Rockies owner Dick Monfort about the team’s head of baseball operations opening.”
Ottavino, a 15-year MLB vet, appeared in three games for the Yankees at the beginning of the 2025 season, has been making the media rounds and is the host of his own Youtube show, “Baseball & Coffee.” Ottavino has a strong connection to the Rockies, having pitched for the organization for seven years from 2012-18.
Our own Trevor May was Ottavino’s teammate in the New York Mets bullpen during the 2022 season and loved the idea of his friend potentially running the Rockies organization.
“He’s not afraid to think outside the box and he has a very scientific way of breaking things down and making things simple,” May said. “He is infinitely curious and is not afraid to try things. I think that’s what the Rockies need, they need to shake things up a bit, but they could finally get a guy who thinks differently but is still part of the family.”
The Rockies have never won the World Series and have made it to the Fall Classic just once in their 33-year history, where they got swept by the Boston Red Sox in 2007. Playing in Denver at the highest altitude in Major League Baseball, 5,200 feet above sea level, Coors Field presents a very unique challenge for the Rockies to try and build a winning team.
The thinner air in higher altitudes has many different impacts on baseball. For the most part, pitches spin less and balls travel farther. While the deeper outfield walls have offset some of the home runs, with Coors Field ranking sixth in home run park factor via Baseball Savant, the larger outfield has made it far and away the leader in park factor for hits of any kind.
There are also physical challenges playing at altitude, with some players experiencing significant altitude sickness. The most well-known example of this is longtime closer Kenley Jansen choosing not to travel to Colorado due to adverse reactions he has had while pitching at altitude due to a heart condition, atrial fibrillation.
These factors do not necessarily mean that a job in the Rockies front office is undesirable. In fact, in a sort of masochist sense, it may actually make it more appealing for some of the top minds in the sport according to The Wall Street Journal’s Jared Diamond.
“I need you all to understand how many VERY smart people in baseball view running the Rockies as a dream job,” Diamond wrote on Twitter after Schmidt’s departure was announced. “It’s the ultimate challenge–trying to figure out how to build a winner in that environment. Smart executives are tantalized by it. They want to prove they can do it.”
Ottavino spoke about pitching at Coors Field in an appearance with May on our “Cut on the Diamond” podcast in February.
“At Coors Field, you have to anticipate the lower break and set up your pitches a little differently. If you want them to chase something below the zone, you have to throw a fastball down there to get them to swing because there is not as much difference in the break,” Ottavino said. “I wanted to understand it and I wanted to figure it out… I’m probably the guy who took it the most seriously and therefore was able to combat it better than guys who were in denial about it.”
Ottavino had arguably the best year of his career in 2018 pitching for the Rockies at Coors Field. In 75 appearances, he had a 2.43 ERA along with career-highs in strikeouts (112) and FIP (2.74). If anyone understands the unique challenges associated with Coors Field and is equipped to build a winner in Colorado, it’s Ottavino.
Even though it seems unlikely that Ottavino will end up getting the head of baseball operations job, the fact that the Monforts are thinking outside the box and even considering a candidate like Ottavino is very, very promising for the future of the Rockies organization.
A previous edition of this article included an inaccurate quote from Adam Ottavino. The article has been updated. We regret this error.