Bill Ladson is reporting that Kris Kline has been named Scouting Director, replacing Dana Brown. Combine that with the reports that Roy Clark is coming on board as Assistant GM, VP of Player Personnel and the attached is my best guess of the Nationals organization chart with roles I see in need of refilling.
It’s all a guess on my part, so take it with a huge grain of salt.
I’m still trying to figure out where Boone fits in the organization, assuming Clark comes on board. The only difference in their titles is Boone is VP of Player Development while Clark is reportedly VP of Player Personnel.
I would hope the Nationals would have an Assistant Director of Scouting for both Professional (other MLB teams) and amateur (high school, college, independent). As I have repeatedly harped on, I also hope the Nationals expand their international presence by not only naming an International Scouting Director (Zona is rumored) but also naming Assistant Directors in charge of Latin America, the Pacific Rim, and one in charge of the other areas (Europe, Africa, etc). The Nationals also need to replace Bobby Williams position as Player Development Director.
That’s still quite a few roles to fill (and that does not even include the crosscheckers. area coordinators and various scouts).
#1 by Andrew Stebbins - October 14th, 2009 at 09:27
Brian this is great. Just a few things. Was thinking maybe it would go from Galbreath to Parker. And from Boone to the TBD, Dir. Player Dev.. Would love to see this updated/expanded as time goes on.
#2 by JayB - October 14th, 2009 at 10:06
Boone and Galbreath have to go or it just proves Nats are not letting Rizzo run the show. I am sure this will be a long drawn out process as Mark Lerner Micro Managed things with keeping Jimbo in power so long.
Let us hope Rizzo has the juice to clean house quickly.
#3 by Rocket Surgeon - October 14th, 2009 at 11:42
For your DayPlanner- SS pitches Friday.
#4 by Rocket Surgeon - October 14th, 2009 at 11:54
It was nice to find out, in conversations with his Desert Dog teammates, that SS is a humble, friendly guy who wants to be part of a winning organization. He’s getting great reviews as a teammate and player in AZ. It was refreshing to hear. Paul Meinhart from the Nats MiLB org has joined the Desert Dogs staff.
#5 by Brian Oliver - October 14th, 2009 at 11:58
RS – Thanks for the intel
#6 by Wallyball - October 14th, 2009 at 12:14
I agree with JayB’s comment, particularly regarding Galbreath. It has to be an awkward situation if he is part of ownership.
I would also like to see the Nats embrace more formally the sabremetrics trend going on in baseball with a specific hiring in that area. There was a really good article a little while ago on the Mariners and their staffing for sabremetrics. I think that the acquisition of Gutierrez was the focus, but it talked about their organizational adjustments. I think that it was organized outside either scouting or PD, and reported in to the GM directly.
#7 by BinM - October 14th, 2009 at 20:26
Andrew: In looking at Brian’s draft, I kind of thought the same thing – Operations staff (Parker, Cromie & maybe Thomas) would report to Galbreath, Player Development staff would report to Boone, while all scouting operations would feed to Clark.
JayB: Galbreath might be hard to shed from the operational structure, saying he’s a minority owner with the Lerner Group (along with Kasten & a few others).
#8 by BinM - October 14th, 2009 at 20:28
Rocket: The Oct 14 AFL media notes now have Strasburg pitching Saturday against Scottsdale.
#9 by Carl Goldstein - October 14th, 2009 at 20:52
Another critical piece of the Washington Nationals efforts to rebuild their operations abroad was put into place Wednesday afternoon when Boston Red Sox Latin American coordinator Johnny DiPuglia accepted a position as the Nationals director of international operations.
DiPuglia, one of Latin America’s most respected scouts, had worked for the Boston Red Sox since 1999, when he started as a Latin American cross checker. He scouted talent-rich Florida for the team for several years before being promoted to Latin American scouting coordinator in 2005.
DiPuglia, of Dominican descent, was raised in Miami and started his professional baseball career in 1990 as an area scout for the St. Louis Cardinals. He moved on to the San Francisco Giants as the assistant international director in 1998. During his tenure with the Red Sox, he was instrumental in the team’s signing of All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez. He also can count Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel, Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco, Marlins hurler Anibal Sanchez (he of a no-hitter in 2006), Rockies pitcher Jorge De La Rosa, and former longtime utilityman Eli Marerro among his 19 signees who have made it to the majors.
“This was a tough decision to leave because of people like Craig Shipley (Boston’s vice president of international operations) and [GM] Theo Epstein,” says DiPuglia, 46. “But I’m getting older and I thought I should have tried this, to develop something from ground zero.”
The Nationals international operations were leveled last February after Major League Baseball’s Department of Investigations discovered that top Dominican prospect, Esmailyn Gonzalez, recipient of a club-record $1.4 million signing bonus, was four years older than purported and actually named Carlos Daniel Alvarez Lugo. The signing is the epicenter of an ongoing FBI investigation into former Nationals general manager Jim Bowden and his special assistant Jose Rijo.
Within days of SI.com breaking the news of the Gonzalez incident, then-assistant general manager Mike Rizzo traveled to the Dominican Republic to shutter the team’s Dominican academy, which operated at a complex owned by Rijo. Rizzo found a temporary complex for the team, but establishing the Nationals as a permanent presence on the island — among many other issues — now falls to DiPuglia.
In moving from the Red Sox, a team that spent $12.1 million from 2003 to ‘08 on international signings, the third most in the majors, to the Nationals, DiPuglia joins a team that ranked 25th in international spending with $4.5 million over the same period.
“I met with [ownership] and they’re committed,” says DiPuglia, who understands why the Lerners family that owns the team would be hesitant to invest in international signings after being defrauded in the Gonzalez case. “They want to go forward and they thought I was the right guy.”
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#10 by BinM - October 14th, 2009 at 21:18
If this SI report proves true, that would be another big piece in Brian’s FO org chart.