As if the Colorado Rockies’ search for a president of baseball operations/general manager weren’t already weird enough, yesterday, it took another bizarre twist with this from Tim Healy of the Boston Globe:
Healy’s reporting was confirmed by Patrick Saunders later in the day.
You can read Purple Row’s coverage of the disintegrating search for a PBO/GM here and here. But now we’ve reached a point where it’s time to have a conversation about Adam Ottavino’s qualifications to lead the Rockies front office.
Oddly enough, in the summer of 2024 when the New York Mets played the Rockies, Kyle Newman, Patrick Lyons, and I interviewed Ottavino, and you can read my transcript of that conversation here. At the time, I was focused on Ottavino’s comments that he wanted to work as an MLB manager. But in retrospect, I think his remarks are equally applicable for a front office position, and I’m going to be quoting from them here because I think they provide a good sense of how he would approach being a front office executive.
Okay, then, start with the background
This isn’t going to be something to spend much time on given Ottavino’s familiarity to Rockies fans. You can read his final “Ranking the Rockies” here. (He left the Rockies in 2018.)
After leaving Colorado, Ottavino pitched for the New York Yankees (2019-2020), the Boston Red Sox (2021), and the New York Mets (2024-2024). He started 2025 with the Yankees, but was DFA’d on April 8.
Since then — as far as we know — he’s mostly worked in baseball media. He started his “Baseball and Coffee” YouTube show in July, and it has just under 8,000 subscribers. Later that month, he began working on a program for MLB’s official YouTube channel.
But in that 2024 interview, Ottavino made clear that he had aspirations when his playing career had ended.
Kyle Newman: Would coaching be in your future with the way you like to analyze the game?
Adam Ottavino: I have my mind and my heart starting to dream a little bit on managing. I’d be unorthodox, but I think I could get unorthodox results.
I think most of the managerial moves nowadays are pitching moves — especially bullpen — and I feel like I’ve been doing that for 14 years out there [laughs].
And the second part is talking to media, which I know I can do.
The third part is having tough conversations, which is something I’d have to improve on, and some leadership stuff, but I have been dreaming about that a little bit, so that could be down the road. We’ll see.
KN: You could see yourself getting into that route and climbing the ladder?
AO: Oh, no, I’m not going to climb any ladder. I’m just gonna go right to the main thing.
[The group laughs, but Ottavino is serious.]
I’ll do something else until the main thing. We’ll figure it out that way.
PL: Are there any relievers who’ve ever managed before?
OA: Not that I know of.
Renee Dechert: That’s intriguing.
OA: Like I said, it’s a little unorthodox.
Patrick Lyons: It is for a pitcher. Bud Black’s one of the few.
OA: Yep.
[Material about the Rockies 2018 season has been omitted.]
KN: So the manager thing, you’re serious about that?
AO: Uh huh.
RD: I’m intrigued.
AO: Dead serious.
RD: I think you’ve got it.
AO: We’ll see what happens. I mean, I might do media for a while, but again, I’m JJ Redick: direct move from one thing to the job.
KN: Okay, JJ Redick.
AO: No climbing the ladder for me.
PL: So you wouldn’t do Double-A or Triple-A?
AO: No.
PL: Pitching coach?
AO: No.
PL: Really?
AO: Yeah.
KN: Just straight for the skipper’s job.
AO: I’m just being honest.
RD: I like your attitude.
AO: I think I’ll be great.
KN: No to the other stuff, just because you want to hang out with your family?
AO: Well, yeah. I mean, I don’t know anything about minor-league baseball anymore. I only know Major League Baseball. So focus on that.
KN: Not even pitching coach?
AO: Eh, it’s alright. It doesn’t excite me that much.
RD: He wants to be the boss.
AO: I want to be in charge. I want to make the decisions. [Pause] I’m not afraid to say it.
The focus of this conversation was managing. But in returning to this interview, it’s not difficult to see this as also describing Ottavino’s approach to running a front office.
Clearly, he does not lack for confidence.
Now, let’s weigh his résumé.
The reasons to hire Ottavino as the new PBO/GM
The following points strike me as factually true and attributes that lean in Ottavino’s favor.
- He understands pitching at elevation — No one can doubt this. Ottavino had real-world experience for years, and he was (mostly) successful at making it work.
- He uses analytics and isn’t afraid to experiment — Ottavino long ago learned to re-invent himself. He understands pitching and pitch development and analytics. You don’t have to talk to him very long to get just how smart he is about pitching.
- He’s familiar to Dick Monfort — According to reporting, Dick Monfort appears to have inserted himself into a search that was ostensibly being directed by Walker Monfort. (The fact that Ottavino spoke to the father and not the son, at least according to Healy’s reporting, is significant.) If there’s one thing that’s become clear, it’s Dick Monfort’s discomfort with the unfamiliar. Ottavino has the decided benefit of being a known quantity.
- He’s good with the media — Ottavino has always been a good interview, and he’s an excellent communicator. As I’ve written before, the new PBO/GM will ostensibly be the new face of the franchise in the near term. Ottavino could do that. Plus, he’s familiar to fans and would be in a position to begin rebuilding the Rockies’ fraught relationship.
The reason Ottavino might not be a good hire for the new PBO/GM
- He has no front office experience — It is difficult to overstate how important this is. Despite Ottavino’s baseball acumen, he has zero experience running a front office or a staff. The person who signed on to lead the Rockies front office was always going to start the 2026 working at a deficit. They are, after all, trying to rebuild a baseball team that was historically bad in 2025. That person needs to be knowledgeable and able to get to work immediately. Those challenges would become Ottavino’s, exacerbated by the fact that he has no prior front office experience.
On a personal note, I really like Adam Ottavino, and I don’t doubt his baseball chops. But I do have questions about whether he is — at this time — prepared for this particular job.
Post script
I would add a note to anyone in the Rockies front office who happens to be reading Purple Row in their free time.
You need to communicate with fans about the status of this search.
Reports from national media citing “industry insiders” don’t cut it. You’ve asked a great deal of Rockies fans, especially coming off a 43-119 season. After Bill Schmidt’s resignation, you indicated that a significant change was in the works — a rebuild led by someone from outside the organization. Reports suggest that is not at all what is going on. Moreover, some distressingly familiar patterns are resurfacing.
Rockies, it’s time to level with fans about what’s going on.
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