1. Paul DePodesta was born on December 16,1972 and is an American football executive and former baseball executive who is the chief strategy officer of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League.
29 Facts About Paul DePodesta
1. 2.
Paul DePodesta previously served as a front office assistant for the Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics, and New York Mets of Major League Baseball.
3.
Paul DePodesta is known for his appearance in the book and movie Moneyball about his early career as an assistant with the Athletics.
4.
Paul DePodesta attended Episcopal High School and then Harvard University, where he played baseball and football and graduated in 1995 with a degree in economics.
5.
Paul DePodesta began his career as a sports executive with an internship for the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League in 1995.
6.
In 1996, Paul DePodesta got his first baseball job with the Cleveland Indians, where he spent three seasons.
7.
Paul DePodesta was a key figure in Michael Lewis's book Moneyball.
8.
At the age of 31, Paul DePodesta was named general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 16,2004, making him the fifth-youngest general manager in baseball history.
9.
Paul DePodesta is often considered part of a new breed of front office executives whose personnel decisions depend heavily on analysis of performance data, often at the perceived expense of more traditional methods of scouting and observation.
10.
Paul DePodesta traded catcher Paul Lo Duca, relief pitcher Guillermo Mota and outfielder Juan Encarnacion to the Florida Marlins in exchange for pitcher Brad Penny, first baseman Hee Seop Choi and pitcher Bill Murphy, in what was reportedly an attempt to pick up pieces to acquire pitcher Randy Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
11.
Paul DePodesta was heavily criticized in the local and national baseball media for this trade, because Lo Duca was thought to be the "heart and soul" of the team.
12.
On October 29,2005, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt fired Paul DePodesta, citing his desire to see the club win and that Paul DePodesta had not met those expectations.
13.
Reports surfaced that the real reason McCourt had fired Paul DePodesta was his inability to find satisfactory managerial candidates to replace Jim Tracy.
14.
Paul DePodesta was later replaced by Ned Colletti, who hired Grady Little as manager.
15.
On June 30,2006, Paul DePodesta was hired as the special assistant for baseball operations for the San Diego Padres and was promoted to executive vice president on November 10,2008.
16.
On November 8,2010, Paul DePodesta was hired as the vice president of player development and scouting for the New York Mets by general manager Sandy Alderson, with whom Paul DePodesta worked when Alderson was CEO of the Padres.
17.
On January 5,2016, Paul DePodesta was hired by the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League as its chief strategy officer.
18.
On July 31,2021, it was reported that the Browns and Paul DePodesta had agreed to a 5-year contract extension.
19.
On March 18,2022, Paul DePodesta helped to facilitate a trade for Deshaun Watson.
20.
On December 13,2012, Paul DePodesta joined the Sears Holdings Corporation board of directors.
21.
Paul DePodesta has served as a keynote speaker at numerous business conventions and been covered by publications such as Baseball Prospectus and Fortune Magazine.
22.
Paul DePodesta is married to artist and philanthropist Karen Deicas and has three sons and a daughter.
23.
Paul DePodesta first wanted to write an article on the subject, but the idea eventually blossomed into a book named Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.
24.
Beane and Paul DePodesta had studied James' work and were inspired by his knowledge of baseball analysis.
25.
Paul DePodesta did not feel comfortable in the spotlight after the book's release, nor did he care for the secrets revealed about his scouting methods.
26.
In reality, Paul DePodesta played football in college and wanted to be a football coach, seen in a photo wearing number 17.
27.
Paul DePodesta was so respectful of me and my time.
28.
Paul DePodesta talked about the focus that was brought on him, first in 2003 and again in 2011.
29.
Brand is a composite of Beane's assistants in Oakland, not an accurate representation of any specific person, but Moneyballs director, Bennett Miller, has credited Paul DePodesta for being generous and helpful in the making of the film.