2015 Front Office & Personnel Changes

[mabrowndog]

Lots of interesting hires & promotions.
 

One of the most notable moves, which had first been reported back in November, is the promotion of Raquel Ferreira to Vice President of Baseball Operations. Ferreira is just the third woman to hold the title of vice president for a Major League Baseball organization. Ferreira most recently served as the organization’s senior director of minor-league operations, a role she held for the last three seasons.

Amiel Sawdaye and Mike Rikard [promoted] to Vice President of Amateur and International Scouting and Director of Amateur Scouting, respectively

Paul Fryer has been hired as Global Crosschecker. Fryer joins the Red Sox with 26 years of scouting experience over stints with the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations. For the past three years, he worked as national crosschecker for the Dodgers.

With a commitment to devoting focus to the mental side of the game, the Red Sox also announced the hiring of Dr. Richard Ginsburg as director of the team’s new Behavioral Health Program. Ginsburg, who specializes in sports psychology, has been a consultant within the organization since 2013. 

Joining Ginsberg will be a team of three mental skills coaches, Bob Tewksbury, Laz Gutierrez and Justin Su’a. Tewksbury had spent nine years in the role before spending 2014 working with the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, and was named by countless players coming up through the Red Sox system as having a major role in their development. According to Speier, now with the Boston Globe, Tewksbury is expected to work with the major league club as well as Triple-A Pawtucket. Gutierrez, who served as the Player Development Programs Coordinator for the last two years and is entering his tenth year with the organization, will provide counseling to players in Double-A Portland, High A Salem, and Low A Greenville. Su’a is new to the organization, coming from the IMG Academy in Florida. He will focus on working with the short-season minor league teams.

 
On the scouting side, two really interesting hires. Bannister is a sabermetrics guy, while Gold has scouted for BPro and had a prominent role with the nation's leading independent scouting service.
 

Todd Gold has been hired as an amateur scout for North Carolina and South Carolina. Prior to joining the Red Sox organization, he spent the last six years (2009-14) as a Scouting Supervisor at Perfect Game. In addition, Gold also worked part time as a scout for Baseball Prospectus from 2012-14.

Brian Bannister has been hired as a Professional Scout and Analyst. A former pitcher who played five seasons in the majors between the New York Mets (2006) and Kansas City Royals (2007-10), Bannister finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting with the Royals in 2007. Bannister was originally selected by the Red Sox out of the University of Southern California in the 2002 June Draft, but did not sign.

 
Other scouting additions:
 

Stephen Hargett has been hired as an amateur scout for Northern Florida. The graduate of Florida State University spent the last two years as a part-time scout for the Red Sox. Prior to joining the organization, Hargett spent seven years (2006-12) as a part-time scout for the Los Angeles Angels.

Josh Labandeira has been hired as an amateur scout for Northern California. Prior to joining the Red Sox, Labandeira worked in a part-time scouting role with the Kansas City Royals in 2014, and as an associate scout in the Houston Astros system from 2011-13. An infielder, he was a sixth-round selection of the Montreal Expos out of Fresno State University in the 2001 June Draft.

Francisco Polanco has been hired as an area scout for the Dominican Republic. A former right-handed pitcher, Polanco spent three years playing in the Texas Rangers minor league system before pitching internationally in Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and Italy. He worked for the Cleveland Indians as an area scout in 2014, and as an associate scout for the Atlanta Braves in 2013.

Lenin Rodriguez has been hired as an area scout in Venezuela. Prior to joining the Red Sox, Rodriguez spent eight seasons (2000-07) for the Arizona Diamondbacks as an international scout working in Venezuela.

 
Plus GCL Sox Manager Tom Kotchman will also be serving as a cross-checker in Florida.
 
Various promotions include:
 
* Brian Abraham from Major League Staff Assistant to Assistant Director, Player Development.
* Adrian Lorenzo from Baseball Operations intern to Major League Staff Assistant.
* Mark Wasinger from Special Assignment scout to Special Assistant, Player Personnel.
* Mike Murov from Coordinator, Baseball Operations to Assistant Director, Major League Operations.
* Steve Sanders from Coordinator, Amateur and International Scouting to Assistant Director, Amateur Scouting.
* Gus Quattlebaum from Assistant Director, Amateur Scouting to Assistant Director, Professional and International Scouting.
* Dave Klipstein from Major League scout to Special Assignment scout.

 

[redsoxstiff]

apparently bannister employed saber metrics while pitching...This seems to have given him some rarionality where talent eluded him.

 

[richgedman'sghost]

apparently bannister employed saber metrics while pitching...This seems to have given him some rarionality where talent eluded him.

Brian Bannister gave a very interesting demonstration on the Trackman Radar System at the Saber Seminar last August. He really seems like a great addition to the Red Sox staff. 

 

[dynomite]

Absolutely, love that hire. I'll try to dig up some of his interviews with Posnanski, who adored him when he pitched for the Royals.

 

[Jnai]

Banny is one of the best guys in baseball.  Extremely smart, very down to earth, and I think he'll be a great fit with the Sox front office.

 

[joe dokes]

I've looked but can't find whether Raquel Ferreira is related to Fred Ferreira, who is one of the most famous and successful international scouts in MLB modern times.  (He also ran a baseball camp in Florida I attended as a kid in the mid 70s.).