Dan O'Dowd was the

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

from September 20, 1999 to October 8, 2014. Before being hired by the Rockies, he spent 15 years working for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

, working his way from Accounts Manager to Director of Baseball Operations / Assistant General Manager.

Biography

O'Dowd was raised in

Montville, New Jersey Montville is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 21,528, reflecting an increase of 689 (+3.3%) from the 20,839 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in tu ...

and graduated from

Montville Township High School Montville Township High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Montville Township, in suburban Morris County, United States. The school was founded in 1971 and serves students in ninth through twelfth grades as the ...

in 1976. The results of O'Dowd's GM career have been mixed. Upon taking over the team, he traded fading stars

Dante Bichette Alphonse Dante Bichette Sr. (; born November 18, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player, currently employed by the Toronto Blue Jays organization. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder for the California An ...

Vinny Castilla Vinicio "Vinny" Castilla Soria (; born July 4, 1967) is a Mexican former Major League Baseball third baseman who played his best years with the Colorado Rockies and Atlanta Braves. Previously, he played with the Atlanta Braves (1991–1992, 200 ...

, and

Darryl Kile Darryl Andrew Kile (December 2, 1968 – June 22, 2002) was an American professional baseball starting pitcher. He pitched from 1991 to 2002 for three Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, primarily for the Houston Astros. Kile was known for his shar ...

, opting to build a team around pitching, speed and defense. The following season, after a surprising 82–80 run, O'Dowd signed pitchers

Denny Neagle Dennis Edward Neagle Jr. (; born September 13, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for six teams over a 13-year career. During the 1990s, he was one of the top pitchers in baseball, but his career, and personal life, deterio ...

and

Mike Hampton Michael William Hampton, Jr. (born September 9, 1972) is an American former professional baseball player. Hampton played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher from 1993 through 2010. He pitched for the Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, New ...

to long-term contracts. The acquisitions turned out to be disastrous for the club and were two of the worst free-agency signings in baseball history. Afterwards, O'Dowd attempted to shed salary and build a foundation of young talent around franchise cornerstone

Todd Helton Todd Lynn Helton (born August 20, 1973) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played his entire 17-year career for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). A five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, and ...

. Under his watch, the team developed players such as

Matt Holliday Matthew Thomas Holliday (born January 15, 1980) is an American professional baseball coach and former left fielder who is the bench coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB from 2004 to 2018 for the Col ...

Troy Tulowitzki Troy Trevor Tulowitzki (born October 10, 1984), nicknamed "Tulo", is an American retired professional baseball shortstop, who played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Colorado Rockies. He also played for the Toronto B ...

Jeff Francis Jeffrey William Francis (born January 8, 1981) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, and ...

, and

Ubaldo Jiménez Ubaldo Jiménez García (born January 22, 1984) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles. Jiménez was an MLB All-Sta ...

. The 2007 season was arguably the most surprising run by any Rockies team, as the team won 21 of their last 22 games to force a tiebreaker against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

. The Rockies, who were making their first playoff appearance in 12 years, swept both the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

en route to the

2007 World Series The 2007 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2007 season. The 103rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Colorado Rockies and the American Le ...

, before losing to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. O'Dowd was rewarded with a contract extension following the team's successful playoff run. As the Rockies struggled in 2012, the Rockies restructured their front office, making

Bill Geivett William Paige Geivett (born July 25, 1963) is an American professional baseball player and executive. Career Geivett attended Sacramento City College and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Playing college baseball for the UCSB G ...

their director of major league operations, though O'Dowd retained the title of general manager. Following the 2014 season O'Dowd was offered a contract extension but declined the deal when he was not allowed to replace Geivett. The Rockies promoted Jeff Bridich to the role of general manager, and Geivett resigned, upset he did not get promoted to the role of GM. O'Dowd currently serves as an analyst for

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odowd, Dan Living people Major League Baseball general managers Major League Baseball executives Baltimore Orioles executives Cleveland Indians executives Colorado Rockies executives MLB Network personalities Montville Township High School alumni People from Montville, New Jersey Sportspeople from Morris County, New Jersey Year of birth missing (living people)