Pirates Fill out Front Office

by steve_z on Nov 7, 2007 1:52 PM EST Comment 4 comments

These were the crucial acquisitions for the organization this off-season:

Director of Player Development: Kyle Stark (Cleveland)

Director of Scouting: Greg Smith (Detroit)

Director of Baseball Operations: Bryan Minniti (Pittsburgh)

Clearly, there are no big names here. This need not be a bad thing.... But the lack of a big name makes these hires a bit opaque. It also suggests -- but does not prove -- that money was a factor in these matters.

Time will tell if these were the right men for the jobs.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.

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Charlie

Do you know any Tigers bloggers who might have opinions on Smith? His drafting record as Tigers SD was very poor as far as I can tell. I'd be curious what knowledgeable Detroit fans think.

by WTM on Nov 7, 2007 2:38 PM EST reply actions

I posted this news at BTF

Hopefully, posters over there will provide some insight into Stark and Smith.

by steve_z on Nov 7, 2007 2:47 PM EST up reply actions

Hmph.

I'll keep an open mind, but none of these guys immediately alleviate any concerns that I'd had before they were hired. In the case of Smith, I might even have some new ones.

by Vlad on Nov 7, 2007 3:48 PM EST reply actions

Smith

Is he related to Randy - my memory is hazy.

I can tell you that the Tigers got better at scouting when they hired better area scouts and cross checkers and spent some money. Smith improved his scouting when Illitch and Dombrowski paid attention - compare the haul from 2002 to 2004 as opposed to 1997 - 2001.

I doubt anyone else would have considered Smith for a scouting director job - if I remember correctly, he was a Randy Smith protege and Randy is barely employable in the MLB.

If the Pirates hire better cross checkers and area scouts and Smith is smart enough to listen to them, it might be an improvement over Ed Creech. Smith and his staff in Detroit did find some useful players, but given how poorly Detroit was during his tenure, the end results are abyssmal until Dombrowski took over.

by Greg Schuler on Nov 7, 2007 4:27 PM EST reply actions