The Colorado Rockies are finalizing a deal to hire Paul DePodesta to run their baseball operations department, sources told ESPN, turning to the longtime executive to overhaul a stagnant organization coming off a 119-loss season.

DePodesta, 52, will leave the Cleveland Browns , where he has spent the past decade as chief strategy officer, and return to baseball, where he was a key figure in the "Moneyball"-era Oakland A's and later ran the Los Angeles Dodgers .

The hiring of DePodesta comes after a search in which the two main candidates, Cleveland assistant general manager Matt Forman and Arizona assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye, balked at taking a job expected to require a multiyear rebuild. Colorado's previous GM, Bill Schmidt, resigned Oct. 1 following a fourth consecutive last

See Full Page