Jeff Bridich

Jeffrey Bridich

• School Harvard University

• Born 1977 in Milwaukee, WI USA

Biographical Information

Jeff Bridich was named General Manager of the Colorado Rockies following the 2014 season and stayed until April of 2021.

Bridich was a catcher on the varsity team while attending Harvard University, then upon graduation worked in the Commissioner's office in the department of minor league contracts and transactions from 2001 to 2004. In 2004, he joined the Rockies as manager of minor league operations. In 2006, he was promoted to senior director of baseball operations, with responsibilities linked to contracts, player transactions, payroll management and statistical analysis. he also oversaw the team's handling of arbitration cases.

On October 8, 2014, General Manager Dan O'Dowd and Assistant GM Bill Geivett both resigned after years on the job, a result of yet another losing season by the Rockies, whose 96 losses that year were the second-most in franchise history. Bridich was immediately named to take over as GM and stated: "We are not where we want to be, we know that. But we do have people who are determined to get there. Make no mistake, this organization wants to win and this organization is determined to win." While his predecessor had been known for his willingness to implement radical plans to deal with the chronic difficulty of pitching in the high altitude of Colorado, Bridich's initial statements were that he would go a different route, accepting the fact as a given and as part of the more global challenge of putting together a major league pitching staff, and not as an excuse to go off in radical directions.

He was only the third person to occupy the GM position for the Rockies. Bob Gebhard had held the job since before the team played its first game in 1993, being replaced by O'Dowd in 1999. The Rockies had some success under his tutelage, including back-to-back postseason appearances in 2017 and 2018. However, things tumbled quickly after that, and Bridich claimed he was forced by circumstances to make a very unpopular trade of team icon Nolan Arenado following a poor 2020 season, in spite of having signed him to a huge long-term contract only a year earlier. When the Rockies got off to a poor start in 2021, he announced his resignation on April 26th. He was replaced by Greg Feasel, the team's chief operating officer, although this was seen as a temporary arrangement as Feasel did not have any experience with the on-field side of the team's operations. He rapidly named Scouting Director Bill Schmidt as interim GM, and confirmed him in the job at the end of the season.

Preceded by Dan O'Dowd

Colorado Rockies General Manager 2014-2021

Succeeded by Bill Schmidt

Further Reading

• Thomas Harding: "Passion for baseball defines new GM Bridich: Graduate of Harvard, tri-captain as player; joined Rockies operations in '04", mlb.com, October 10, 2014 [1]
• Bob Nightengale: "Colorado Rockies chose GM Jeff Bridich over Nolan Arenado; now they have neither", USA Today, April 26, 2021. [2]
• Tracy Ringolsby: "Q&A: Bridich details how he became Rockies' GM", mlb.com, November 26, 2016. [3]
• Tracy Ringolsby: "Bridich not afraid to take risks for rising Rockies: GM has shown creativity, decisiveness in 3 years at helm", mlb.com, November 20, 2017. [4]
• Liz Roscher: "Rockies GM Jeff Bridich resigns amid team struggles", Yahoo!Sports, April 26, 2021. [5]