Jeff Bridich '00 Becomes GM for Rockies

On Tuesday, Jeff Bridich’00 and tricaptain of the 2000 baseball team was named the third general manager in Colorado Rockies’ team history. The move came after Dan O’Dowd, the team’s general manager since 1999, and Bill Geivett, the team’s senior vice president, resigned following Colorado’s disappointing 2014 campaign.

Bridich, initially a junior varsity outfielder who would go on to play catcher and outfielder for the Crimson baseball team during his junior and senior years, worked as an intern in MLB Commissioner Bud Selig’s office following graduation and has worked for the Rockies since December of 2004.

He had served as the team’s senior director of baseball operations and senior director of player development prior to his promotion to GM and senior VP. Bridich, whose wife Sarah graduated Harvard the same year he did, inherits a roster with more talent than their fourth-place NL West finish would indicate. The Rockies were a game above .500 entering June before injuries derailed the remainder of their season, extending their playoff drought to five years.

Perennial MVP candidate Troy Tulowitzki missed 71 games due to injury while starting corner outfielders Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Gonzalez missed a combined 205. Colorado also possesses the third pick in this year’s draft and a deep farm system that was ranked tenth best in the majors by Baseball Prospectus before the 2014 season.

Bridich, who grew up in Milwaukee and now lives in Denver with Sarah and their two children, joins two other MLB general managers with Crimson ties. Rick Hahn of the Chicago White Sox and Sandy Alderson of the New York Mets both graduated from Harvard Law School—Hahn in 1975 and Alderson the following year.

At 37 years old, Bridich joins an elite and growing group of MLB general managers under 40. Alex Anthopoulos of the Toronto Blue Jays, Jon Daniels of the Texas Rangers, and A.J. Preller of the San Diego Padres also have yet to celebrate their fortieth birthdays. While Bridich’s ascent to general manager was quick by baseball standards, the Rockies hope their ascent to the postseason under his leadership will be much quicker.