The Mets have hired Paul DePodesta as vice president of player development and amateur scouting. DePodesta, a holdover from the John Moores/Sandy Alderson regime, rejoins Alderson in New York.
During his time with the Padres, DePodesta always went out of his way to make bloggers feel welcome. As Gaslamp Ball’s jbox notes, “Paul was a really nice dude.”
I wish DePodesta well in his new position.
Man, what a loss for the Padres and a gain for the Mets.
Dude was awesome. I hope he keeps blogging.
Good luck to Paul. We’ll miss him around here.
It may not be THAT much of a loss. De Podesta was no longer working exclusively in the baseball end, working with the financial and marketing espects as well. It seems like he was either getting odds and ends after Alderson left, or being groomed for a more inclusive job.
I’d heard/read that when Moorad’s group took over a majority of the franchise, Moorad would become chairman and De Podesta would be in line to take over as CEO. With Moorad guesstimating that would happen in about a year, it seems De Podesta would have reason to stick around, rather than take an assistant GM position.
The fact De Podesta moved on rather than wait indicates maybe he wasn’t being groomed at all, and in any event wouldn’t have the power Alderson did as CEO with a GM who had been chosen by the Chairman/owner.