Tigers make promotions in scouting area

Tigers make promotions in scouting area
Chadd named VP of scouting, special assistant to GM

By Jason Beck / MLB.com

08/06/10 7:55 PM ET

DETROIT -- The Tigers made a trio of promotions in their amateur scouting and player development departments, including a new job title for David Chadd after six successful years running the Tigers' Draft efforts.

Chadd will continue to oversee the Tigers' Draft efforts, now as vice president in charge of amateur scouting. But he'll also add on some Major and Minor League duties as special assistant to the general manager, expanding on some recent tasks he took on.

The move, team officials explained, provides a direct connection between the scouting and player development sides, something team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski and assistant general manager Al Avila discussed when looking over the farm system and the organizational structure over the past several weeks.

"What we're creating here, what Dave has allowed and has spearheaded, we're bringing all the departments together," Avila said. "Really, instead of having three different departments, it's one big department with three areas. There's international and Latin American operations, our amateur scouting, and our player development, all being one."

For Chadd, it means a direct connection with players over the course of their development, from scouting them for the Draft to watching them progress through the farm system.

"It's a situation where he can bring more to the organization," Dombrowski said. "I think there's a couple of things there. One is his vast knowledge of a lot of areas of the game. By expanding his role, he can help us in those areas more readily."

Under Chadd's efforts, Detroit has drafted seven current members of the Tigers' roster, including Rick Porcello, Ryan Perry, Alex Avila, Brennan Boesch and Robbie Weinhardt. Top prospects Jacob Turner, Andy Oliver, Daniel Fields, Scott Sizemore and Casper Wells were also selected in Chadd's Drafts.

Day-to-day scouting duties will now be run by Scott Pleis, who was promoted to Chadd's former title of amateur scouting director. Pleis spent the past three years with the Tigers as a national cross-checker.

"Not that they won't disagree on some players, but they share the same philosophy on players," Dombrowski said

Teaching and developing that talent will now fall under the watch of Mike Rojas, who was promoted to fill the vacant post of player development director. The former Tigers Minor League manager has been the Minor League field coordinator since 2008, and was the logical successor to Glenn Ezell once he and the Tigers parted ways in June. The new role puts him in charge of all on-field instruction.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.