Rockies bringing Paul DePodesta back to baseball, but will he recreate ‘Moneyball’ magic?

Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort must have recently watched the movie “Moneyball” and thought hiring one of those guys would be a good idea.  On Thursday, Fox Sports tweeted that the Rockies are planning to hire Paul DePodesta as their new head of baseball operations, citing multiple reports. The character actor Jonah Hill played in the film is loosely based on DePodesta. That might seem wise for the downtrodden franchise. When DePodesta served as an assistant general manager for GM Billy Beane from 1999-2003, the Athletics (then based in Oakland) made four playoff appearances. His run included the 2002 season, during which they won 20 consecutive games between Aug. 13 and Sept. 4 of that year, the fourth-longest streak in a season in MLB history.  Since January 2016, however, he has served as chief strategy officer for the Cleveland Browns in the NFL. That tenure should make Rockies fans much less optimistic about this move. Under DePodesta, the Browns have compiled a 56-99-1 record, winning one playoffRead More