The Rockies and their director of research and development, Scott Van Lenten, suddenly parted ways Tuesday about five months after he was hired, sources told The Athletic. The club would not say why the move was made, declining to explain because of a policy concerning personnel matters, but sources said there were significant disagreements between the club and Van Lenten.
Van Lenten was hired in September after working with the Nationals. It was the first step in the Rockies’ grand rebuild of an analytics department that was in shambles. He was made responsible for hiring a staff nearly from scratch. By late January, the club’s research and development team was built back from a group of one a year ago into a budding list of eight.
The Rockies have no immediate plans to replace Van Lenten and those duties will instead push back to assistant general manager Zack Rosenthal.
As the head of Rockies R&D, Van Lenten moved up a rung from his role with the Nationals, where he worked as an analyst since 2017 and won a World Series in 2019. He then hired or promoted six others in the department in time for spring training. Together, along with a newly hired director of baseball operations, the Rockies’ revamped department formed under Rosenthal and general manager Bill Schmidt.
With a background in statistics and communication, and an advanced degree in developmental psychology from Arizona State, Van Lenten started as an intern with the Orioles under general manager Dan Duquette. Several members of that R&D team in Baltimore are now spread across the major leagues in other analytics departments.
Last winter, the Rockies’ research and development department — the area in charge of collecting advanced data to find competitive advantages on the field and off — was gutted by departures. What was among the smallest analytics departments in the majors was reduced to a single person. With a hiring freeze in place, the Rockies did not immediately build back the department, waiting until later in the season. Van Lenten was the first step back.
The Rockies opened their minor-league spring camp on Sunday with a full complement of prospects from each of their four farm levels. But their big-league team, like others, remains locked out from spring training by team owners. Commissioner Rob Manfred last week canceled the first week of games in April as the league and the players union remain in debate on a new collective bargaining agreement. Negotiations for a new contract carried into Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning in New York.
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