Colorado Rockies New GM Takes A Different Approach To Baseball
DENVER (CBS4)- New Colorado Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich isn't your typical baseball mind. The Harvard graduate plans to take more on an analytic approach to the game and has some interesting insights about altitude and the organization.
Bridich talked one-on-one to CBS4's Vic Lombardi where he discussed several topics including how much he'll miss longtime GM Dan O'Dowd and what he's bringing to the field.
"It's difficult for us, friends and employees who have come to know him for so long. He's meant a great deal to a great many people here and we're going to miss him," said Bridich.
Bridich was promoted from within the organization after a fourth consecutive losing season with O'Dowd. But still Bridich isn't making any promises about how many games will be won.
When asked if he could promise 95 wins he promptly replied, "Nope."
Ten years here and 15 in the game. Over time if you are doing your job well, no matter what role you have, you are creating connections with people," said Bridich. "If I don't have that immediate connection there are other people in this organization that do and that's how we've always operated."
Bridich said when it comes to salary, "It's not going to be knee-jerk and it's not going to be willy-nilly or hectic or out of control either. That's what we'll really focus on first is making sure that we collectively have a very clear process moving forward.
As for the altitude, long been considered a factor in playing at Coors Field, Bridich believes it comes with the territory.
"The altitude is not an excuse. I think it's an easy target. I think it's one we've gotten used to in this city and this state. I think it's topical, I think it's easy to bring up. Altitude is our reality and we've taken legitimate steps to help us with that. We have humidors here, as you know, we have one in Triple A, we'll have one in Albuquerque," said Bridich. "The answer to your question about pitching is yes, pitchers can pitch here in altitude. I personally over the past 10 years, have seen a variety of pitchers succeed at altitude. It's not just one type of pitcher. I think there's a misnomer there. I think we need to be creative and open-minded as to all the different types of pitchers that can help us win here."
Bridich is a Harvard graduate and takes a different approach to the game. But he thinks that is a great opportunity for everyone to learn something new.
"I think the reality for most teams in this game is that our scouts learn from our analytics individuals and our analytics individuals learn from our scouts. And I think there is even more blending of that than probably people know or think about. And I think that that is a type of learning from each other and that type of shared process goes on and I think that is going to allow you to eventually make the right decisions and make good decisions and make consistently good decisions which is really a big part of this process."