Paul DePodesta

Paul DePodesta (born December 16, 1972) is the chief strategy officer for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL).

Formerly a front office assistant for the Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics and most recently the New York Mets, he was also general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The year after leading the Dodgers to their first playoff win in 16 years, he was fired after the 2005 club finished with its worst record in 11 years. He was the ninth general manager in the club's history since its move to Los Angeles. He is also known for his notable appearance in the book and movie Moneyball, from his time with the Athletics.

Early life
DePodesta is a native of Alexandria, Virginia, where he grew up with Thad Levine. He attended Episcopal High School ('91) and then Harvard University, where he played baseball and football and graduated in 1995 with a degree in economics. He has worked for the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League and the Baltimore Bandits of the American Hockey League.

Early career
In 1996, DePodesta got his first baseball job with the Cleveland Indians, where he spent three seasons. He served as an advance scout for two years and, in his final month with the club, was appointed special assistant to General Manager John Hart.

In 1999, he joined the Oakland Athletics organization as an assistant to general manager Billy Beane. DePodesta was a key figure in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball. The book thrust the analytical principles of sabermetrics into the mainstream.

Los Angeles Dodgers
At the age of 31, DePodesta was named general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 16, 2004, making him the fifth-youngest person to be named general manager in baseball history behind Jon Daniels (28) of the Texas Rangers, Theo Epstein (28) with the Boston Red Sox, Andrew Friedman (28) of the Tampa Bay Rays, and Randy Smith (29) of the San Diego Padres.

Personal life
Paul DePodesta is married to artist and philanthropist Karen Deicas and has three sons and a daughter. In 2016, DePodesta's wife Karen launched the Sports Mind Institute, (http://thesportsmindinstitute.com) which seeks to connect lessons learned from figures in the arena of professional sports, athletes, team executives, and coaches, to help others apply them to life and the business sector. The family currently resides in Berea, Ohio.

On December 13, 2012, DePodesta was elected to the Board of Directors of Sears Holdings Corporation. DePodesta has also served as a keynote speaker at numerous business conventions and has been recognized by several publications including Baseball Prospectus and Fortune Magazine, which named him as one of the Top 10 innovators under the age of 40.

He appeared uncredited on several episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street.