Last week I explored the new Rockies front office and coaching staff’s focus on embracing and learning from failure. This week I want to explore two more priorities that came up often at Rockies Fest: curiosity and trust in the process.
During the fourth week of January, president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta arranged meetings to bring together staff from different departments to get to know each other and outline the guiding principles for the season.
With many of the new additions to the staff repeating “they want to be here,” as Purple Row’s Renee Dechert wrote Tuesday, curiosity is another key qualification for the new Rockies. The trait is a big reason why he wanted to bring GM Josh Brynes to Colorado. Together, they decided to keep Warren Schaeffer as manager and looked for people with the same mentality they filled the rest of the front office and coaching staff with.
“[We wanted to] surrounding ourselves with people who we think have an opportunity to really move the organization forward with their curiosity and their collaboration,” said DePodesta. “That got us all excited. And that is certainly the reason I am here.”
Brian Jones, director of research and development, is in his 25th year with the organization. He joined the Rockies in 2002, was promoted to video coordinator in 2006 and continued to expand his responsibilities over the years. He took on his current role in 2022.
Jones’ excitement about meeting the new staff and leadership was palpable during a Rockies Fest session with pitching coaches.
“The biggest word we used in meetings this week is curiosity,” Jones said. “Just having a group of people who are just curious and want to use all the information available to get the best out of our players. I mean, it’s been a fantastic first week with the new operation.”
The change that could come from the new perspectives of staff coming from other organizations seemed to make Jones very optimistic about a more successful future in Colorado.
“Obviously, things haven’t gone very well the last few years, so, you know, just the difference, the fresh ideas of the people coming in, you just want to take the information that’s available and more that we can get and just integrate that into our whole baseball operation. It’s just a bunch of outside voices that have had experience and success in Chicago and Toronto, and Miami and Cincinnati, Detroit and LA, and all these different places. It’s bringing in some best practices from the outside, if you. We take that all together now. Take what we do in research and development: it is really information, tools that use information and insights and help improve the people who are here.”
From the front office to the coaches and from Single-A to the MLB level, the Rockies are establishing new processes. While long-term success should mean a winning record, playoffs and ultimately a championship, measuring success in terms of wins and losses in 2026 can be tricky.
When a Rockies Fest audience member asked new pitching coach Alon Leichman what his definition of success would be, he didn’t give a number of wins.
“Let’s stick to our process when times are tough,” Leichman said. “They have to, and they will come. Our ability to not deviate from what we believe in just because of the moment. That would be a successful season.”
Assistant pitching coach Gabe Ribas echoed Leichman’s definition and added the importance of collaboration, creativity and building relationships with the players. Ribas also alluded to another message that emerged from meetings with DePodesta, explaining that the new PBO likens rebuilding the Rockies to the invisible process of water freezing.
“When water turns to ice, it goes through a transition phase, and you don’t necessarily see that transition happening until you get to 32 degrees, and then it really happens,” Ribas said. “And so I think our strength is unity, to be able to stay within our values and principles, and feel like the temperature is dropping.”
After seven straight losing seasons, after four straight fifth-place finishes in the NL West, after three straight seasons of losing more than 100 games, and after their worst 119-loss season in 2025, it’s hard for Rockies fans to know how to set their expectations for 2026. While much of it will take a while, fans will also have to trust the process. Ribas hopes this process will lead to a brighter future for the Rockies faithful.
“At the end of the day, it’s about providing a better fan experience. It’s about winning more games. But for this year, there’s some growing going on. There’s going to be some temperature drops to get to that 32 degree mark that a lot of people won’t see. So, you know, just to follow up on what Alon said, it’s more about how strongly we can stick to our principles and our values this year, but having that confidence even if it doesn’t show up on the scoreboard right away. Mike Tyson said, ‘Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth,” right?
It’s going to be tough, but I’m going to try to trust that the Rockies are on a better path, even if I can’t see that in the standings in 2026.
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