11-14-25 *INTERVIEW* Voice of the Colorado Rockies Jack Corrigan on the Hiring of Paul DePodesta

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And I thought it would be fun to have Jack

(00:01):
on to talk about what.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
He what he learned.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Yea, his reaction to the big press conference yesterday with
the Rockies introducing their new director of operations and some
comments from Dick Montford as well. So I'll shut up
now and welcome Jack up to his radio home.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hi Jack, Good morning, Ross. How are you good?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Good? I want your your gut reaction more than I
want the news.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
My gut reaction was atmosphere and a clear sense, at
least the way I received it, that the page has
been turned, that Dick Montford is stepping back from much
of the day to day stuff and Walker Montfort is

(00:49):
really the person who is going to be in charge
of kind of the day to day of the franchise,
with Paul de Podesta as the guy running the baseball
half of it was. It was refreshing, really in terms
of what I felt was an atmosphere with a media

(01:12):
group that was ready to pounce, if you will, and
came away impressed.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
What's deep Edessa's relationship to Moneyball.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
He was the guy, I mean, basically the Jonah Hill character,
but Paul was the guy who brought the analytic approach
to Billy Bean, the GM of the A's at the time,
played by Brad Pitt in the movie For Reference For Folks,

(01:43):
he was a guy. He was a pioneer in the
analytical side of the game along with Bill James, who
had been kind of the godfather of that approach to baseball.
And I think Paul has honed that approach through the
years to combine it with obviously a relationship building a

(02:09):
model to go along with the hard numbers. I think
a lot of people feel that's that there are equal
strengths for him.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
Are you do you believe that the moneyball kind of
mentality is coming here in a very aggressive sort of way,
or do you think that's a you know, small to
modest facet of what his approach is going to be.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well, I think some of the things that he said
ross that that was impressive.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
You know.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
The criticism has been for a while that the Rockies
were behind in personnel, behind in the equipment, and behind
in the usage of analytic tools in the game. And
Paul's comment, after being around for a few days, has

(03:02):
been there are a lot of good people here. They
have most of the tools. They have not done a
good job, and he took the day and now makes
it a wi of taking that material and using it properly.
I mean, all information can be of benefit, but if
you can't get the message across to the people you

(03:25):
need to be successful. It doesn't matter how many gadgets
or gizmos you have, or how many smart people you have.
You got to be able to get the message across
so that it's received in the best form. And I
think that's where they're headed, and that's new territory for
this team.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
We're talking with Jack Corrigan, voice of the Rockies here
on KOWA. When when Dick Montfort said he was going
to be stepping back from baseball operations, I'm pretty sure
I heard a massive cheer, just like across all of Denver.
And I'm only being slightly sarcastic, But Montfort himself said,
and I'm quoting, I'm not as bad as anyone thinks

(04:07):
I am. I do care. I care about winning, I
care about our players, and you know what, I don't
know him, but I believe him. But on the other hand,
the city and the fans, they don't see him the
way he seems to the way he describes himself. Do
you want to comment on any of.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
That, Well, you know, I would say that my relationship
with Dick and my understanding with Dick and how he
goes about his process. Look, he's been a successful businessman,
like most of the people like him have been, and

(04:48):
they get used to being involved. That the hardest thing
at times, same with coaches and managers and sports. The
hardest thing at times is to delegate some of that
authority and to allow those people to augment, you know,

(05:10):
how you want things to go. And I do think
he wants to win, and I do think he cares.
Maybe sometimes he cares too much to a fault and
didn't move people, whether it was players or people in
the front office in a more timely fashion because he

(05:32):
cared about folks. It's you know, the final product is
what fans are going to use to determine like or
dislike Ross. We all know that. I mean, that's just
the process. But he's still going to be involved when
you know, some big money decision has to come along.

(05:55):
But got the sense that there's more reception in that area.
They're not going to go out and sign fifteen free
agents or that kind of thing. But there's some understanding
of the money to be spent in areas that don't
necessarily show up immediately, scouting analytics, more coaches on the

(06:18):
minor league level. Those things are areas where I think
he has become more receptive to the idea that they
have to spend money in those areas, and then it's
up to Paul and Walker to spend it wisely.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
Well, we'll see how it all plays out. You and
I have shared modest optimism at the beginning of each
season recently, only to be disappointed. But this does feel
like a somewhat bigger change, so maybe our optimism will
be well placed this time. Jack Corrigan his voice of
the Rockies here on KOA. Thanks for making time for us, Jack.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
All right, Ross, I'll give you one quick other note.
Why you're going to have to like Paul Pauldy. Badesta's
wife Karen is an award winning abstract artist. So this
is a guy Paul who's living with an artist. You
know how to do that.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
I know how to do that. I know how to
do that. And Jack Hargan an artist in his own right.
Thanks for being here, Jack, talk to you soon, okay.
Roz