Catching up with former Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta at the World Series
Mets Manager Terry Collins talks with Paul DePodesta, the team’s president of player development and amateur scouting, before a game.
Reporting from New York — Paul DePodesta might have been ahead of his time. The Harvard-educated DePodesta was 31 when the Dodgers hired him as general manager in 2004. That is this year’s model for general managers: a 30-something out of the Ivy League.
In DePodesta’s first year, the Dodgers won the National League West, the team’s first postseason berth in eight years. In his second year, the team lost 90 games, for the first time in 13 years.
Former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt fired him in 2006, when DePodesta wanted to hire Terry Collins, the Mets current skipper, as manager. DePodesta, in his 20th year in professional baseball, might now win his first ring — in New York, with Collins.
DePodesta, the Mets vice president of player development and amateur scouting, said he has been contacted for about “half a dozen†general manager vacancies since leaving the Dodgers but agreed to an interview only once, then withdrew from consideration.
“It has never been about the title, especially after having it,†DePodesta said Saturday. “At some point, I aspired to that. I got there. Maybe it wasn’t all I expected it to be.
“I took a step back and said I wanted to do what I really enjoy. What I have here has been great. It satisfies what I’m looking for.â€
Including a robust frequent-flyer account. DePodesta and his family still make their home in San Diego.
Twitter: @BillShaikin
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