The Pirates revealed their leadership and staff changes within the baseball operations department on Wednesday, formalizing a busy offseason of adjustments.
Key appointments include Max Kwan as vice president of international scouting, Mike Voltmer as vice president of pro evaluation and strategy, and Kevin Tenenbaum as vice president of research and development. Michael Chernow has also been promoted to director of coaching and player development, while John Baker, who previously held that position, has moved up to vice president of performance.
All five of these moves had already been reported by MLB.com.
In addition, several other promotions within the front office were announced, such as Jeremy Bleich becoming the director of pitching development, Trey Rose moving up to director of baseball operations, Dr. Hector Morales being named senior director of international development and Minor League applied mental performance, and Todd Tomczyk being promoted to senior director of sports medicine.
Kwan returns to the organization after spending a year with the Boras Corporation. During his previous tenure as assistant director of international scouting, Kwan helped the Pirates sign international players from regions like Asia (Ji Hwan Bae, Tsung Che-Cheng, Jun-Seok Shim), Africa (David Matoma), San Marino (Alessandro Ercolani), and Australia (Brandan Bidois).
Voltmer spent the past eight years with the Dodgers, most recently as their director of baseball and strategy and information for over three years. Tenenbaum joined the Guardians seven years ago and had previously worked for the Orioles as a baseball analytics analyst starting in 2015.
Bleich will now oversee pitching development throughout the organization, collaborating with pitching leaders at every level to define the team’s vision and core philosophies, while also refining and guiding coaching and development. Bleich, now entering his sixth season with the Pirates, was previously part of the Major League coaching staff for four years and became the assistant director of pitching last season.
Rose, who is in his ninth season with the Pirates, first joined in 2017 as a baseball operations fellow. He spent the past three seasons as assistant director of baseball operations.
These announcements cap off a notably active offseason for the front office, one that exceeded expectations just months ago.
“It’s the most I can remember happening in such a short time,” said general manager Ben Cherington at the Winter Meetings in December. “There wasn’t a grand plan for all this change, but over the last year, we identified opportunities to adjust and add personnel across all areas to continue improving and innovating. No part of baseball operations, including the Major League staff, has been left untouched. I’m really excited about it, and now the key is to see that work pay off with great results.”
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