Tigers Hire Scott Harris as President of Baseball Operations

[oblong]

 

 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

On the surface I love this hire. Harris is an Epstein acolyte is he not?

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Scott Harris bio. Looks like he did indeed work under Theo as the Director of Baseball Operations for the Cubs.

https://www.mlb.com/giants/team/front-office/scott-harris

[RandyMarsh]

I like it, seems like he was a guy that many considered in high demand and pegged to run a team shortly so sounds like it could be a good hire.

[oblong]

Seems alright to me based on his bio and history.  

 

[casimir]

This seems like it came out of nowhere.  I thought CI was too busy counting his pizza pizza money money?

[Tenacious D]

I hate it.

(somebody has to be the contrarian)

[Shinzaki]

Menzin and Sartori stay on?

[casimir]

I am glad they went outside of the organization.  It also appears that they've gone outside of the Hinch baseball tree, so to speak.

The credentials seem good.  They've gotten someone in place before the offseason begins.  That seems positive.  

[Mr.TaterSalad]

2 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

Menzin and Sartori stay on?

I would hope he gets full autonomy to hire and fire anyone he wants in the front office, scouting staff, and coaching staff.

[sabretooth]

Seems like the right pedigree for anyone not named Theo Epstein.

[lordstanley]

So he is the Tigers’ new GM, or at least the closest we will get to one?

Or is there a another new hire coming up, presumably to be made by Harris?

[Toddwert]

1 minute ago, lordstanley said:

So he is the Tigers’ new GM, or at least the closest we will get to one?

Or is there a another new hire coming up, presumably to be made by Harris?

its says president of baseball ops.... which sounds like hes above the GM?

[mtutiger]

I really like this hire, and it is nice to see the franchise upend people's expectations in terms of being creative and casting a wider net. Harris wasn't on many radars.

[oblong]

No leaks is a good sign.  

[gehringer_2]

4 minutes ago, mtutiger said:

I really like this hire, and it is nice to see the franchise upend people's expectations in terms of being creative and casting a wider net. Harris wasn't on many radars.

but Chris Ilitch doesn't know anything or anybody....

[Tigermojo]

I know nothing about him. I will be nice to him today and bitch about him for the next ten years.

[Edman85]

This is what I found when I dug through everybody right after Avila got fired:

Scott Harris (35) – General Manager, San Francisco Giants

• 2020-Pres: Giants General Manager

• 2018-2019: Cubs Assistant General Manager

• 2012-2017: Cubs Director of Baseball Operations

• 2010-2011: MLB Coordinator of Major League Operations

• 2010: Reds Intern

• 2008: Nationals intern

[oblong]

Official 

 

[alex]

Looks good on the surface. Good baseball pedigree. Now hopefully Mr. Harris and the Tigers can move forward.

Any news on any presser, time, etc.?

[chasfh]

This is the right direction for Baby Doc to go in, versus doubling down on eyeball scouting with someone like Matt Slater. I am optimistic that this means they are serious about going in the right direction, finally.

I notice that they have hired him as President of Baseball Ops. I assume this means they will be bringing on a general manager to report in to him? That's the structure they had in San Francisco, so my early assumption is that Harris will replicate to some close degree the structure they have out there. That would mean we should expect to see one more big front office hire—or promotion?—before Spring Training starts.

Even if they bring on another person for the GM role, I would think that as in San Francisco, Harris would be the guy front-and-center representing the team and its mission to the media and the fans.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

He can't be worse than the last GM we hired from the NL West. I'm guessing too given that he is younger and most of all worked with Theo Epstein that he's big into using analytics and sabermetrics to build and operate a ball club. Avila always said he was using analytics to construct his roster and farm system, but I'm not sure that Avila understood the analytics he was given to read. 

Edited September 19, 2022 by Mr.TaterSalad

[chasfh]

On a personal note, I sort of know Scott Harris's dad. We were on the same team at Cubs camp in 2020 (just before COVID hit), which Scott had gifted him the prior Christmas. We had a couple of conversations at length and one morning at breakfast he showed me Scott's 2016 Cubs ring, which he'd brought to camp with him. Talk about super impressive. I just dropped him a mazel tov in the email. He's probably got hundreds of people doing the same with him, so who knows if I hear back. But whether he does or doesn't, he's a really good guy, and I'm really happy for him.

[LongLiveMaroth]

Analytics you say?

Edited September 19, 2022 by LongLiveMaroth

[chasfh]

2 minutes ago, LongLiveMaroth said:

Analytics you say?

So funny to see Theo signing from the analyctis-and-scouts-together hymnbook considering the recent Joe Maddon interview ...