NEWSLETTER
Today the Chicago Cubs announced a flurry of promotions and role changes, including a big one, with (now former) farm director Matt Dorey moving up to a bigger front office role.
Dorey was the longtime head of the Cubs’ amateur scouting department before moving over into player development before the 2020 season as part of the big restructurings that happened around that time. Now having headed up player development for a couple years, he becomes the VP of Player Personnel, the role recently vacated by Jason McLeod. It’s an important front office role that touches on just about all aspects of baseball operations, and indicates the Cubs wanted to make sure they could hang onto Dorey, while also utilizing his skills in a more comprehensive way.
Replacing Dorey as the farm director is Jared Banner, who joined the Cubs before the 2021 season after serving as the director of player development for the Mets farm system. He was a long-time member of the Red Sox front office before that, you so you can figure Jed Hoyer knew a lot of folks who knew Banner well, and must’ve been eager to bring him into the fold during the restructuring, and then promote him aggressively.
The announcement from the Cubs is HEAVY on the data and science-leaning moves, which is fine by me. It’s probably an area where the Cubs could always stand to be more proactive.
One other special call-out in the hirings: former pitcher Danny Hultzen, who had worked so hard to come back and finally pitch in the big leagues, has now transitioned into a strategy role with the big league team. Love that the Cubs were able to keep him around.
The full details from the official team release:
The Chicago Cubs today announced changes in the Baseball Operations department, including Matt Dorey to Vice President, Player Personnel and Jared Banner to Vice President, Player Development.
Matt Dorey starts his first season as Vice President, Player Personnel after he was promoted to Vice President, Player Development in November of 2020. This marks his 12th season with the organization after he joined the Cubs as a national crosschecker in 2012. He was elevated to Director of Amateur Scouting in 2014 before being named Senior Director of Player Development prior to the 2020 season. Breaking into professional baseball with Boston as an area scout in 2008, Dorey has 17 years of experience as a coach, scout and baseball executive.
Jared Banner will begin his first season as Vice President, Player Development after joining the Cubs as Vice President of Special Projects prior to the 2021 campaign. He was the New York Mets Executive Director, Player Development for the 2019-2020 seasons following 11 years with the Red Sox, including Vice President, Player Personnel in 2017-18. Banner played four years of varsity baseball as an outfielder for Amherst College and was the team’s captain in 2007.
Andrew Bassett has been elevated to Director, Pro Scouting/Special Assistant to the President and General Manager following two years as Director of Pro Scouting. He joined the Cubs in 2011, holding various positions within the Baseball Operations and Scouting departments. Prior to joining Chicago, he worked for SFX Baseball Agency while completing his J.D. at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. He graduated from Boston College in 2007 with a B.A. in English.
Garrett Chiado has been named Director, Pro Analytics. Joining the Cubs Research and Development group in 2016, Chiado most recently served as Senior Player Evaluation Analyst, Research and Development. He earned a B.S. in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from Penn State University in 2010 and his Master of Science in Sports Management from Florida State University in 2014.
Chris Jones has been promoted to Director, Research and Development after serving as Assistant Director, Research and Development/Major League Strategist since January of 2019. He joined the Cubs Research and Development department in April of 2014. Jones received his Bachelor of Arts, Mathematics from Claremont McKenna College in 2006 and his Master of Arts, Economics from Northwestern University in 2009.
Bobby Basham will take on the role of Special Assistant, Innovation. He served as Director of Player Development in 2021 following two years as Director of Special Projects/Assistant Director of Player Development. Basham joined the Cubs in 2012, starting as the Advance Scouting Coordinator. A former right-handed pitcher in the Reds and Padres farm systems from 2001-07, he received his M.B.A. from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management in 2010.
Dan Codos enters his second season as Architect, Baseball Systems in the Research and Development department after joining the Cubs as the Assistant Developer, Baseball Systems in May of 2018. He earned his Bachelor of Science – Computer Science from the University of Virginia in 2017.
Alex Smith has been promoted to Assistant Director, Major League Data and Development after serving as Coordinator, Major League Data in 2021. He joined the Cubs in 2015 after graduating from Cornell University with a B.A.Sc. in Industrial and Labor Relations.
Danny Hultzen has been promoted to the role of Major League Pitching Strategist. Hultzen attended the University of Virginia before being drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 2011 draft. Hultzen made his major league debut as a Cub in 2019 and joined the organization as a Pitching Development Assistant in 2021.
Adam Unes has been promoted to Assistant Director, Minor League Operations following one season as Coordinator, Minor League Operations. Unes, who joined the Cubs in 2017, earned his B.S. in Management Information Systems in 2014 and his M.B.A. in Business Administration and Management in 2016, both from the University of Illinois Springfield.
Jacob Eisenberg has been elevated to Assistant Director, Research and Development/Performance Science after joining the Cubs Research and Development department in 2017. He graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Engineering, Operations Research and Financial Engineering in 2016.
Ryan Otero has been promoted to Assistant Director, Pitching Initiatives and begins his sixth season with the Cubs after joining as Assistant, Player Development in 2018. He earned his Bachelor of Industrial Engineering degree from the University of Miami in 2015 and his Master of Science in Business Intelligence and Analytics from Saint Joseph’s University in 2016.
In addition to the changes above, the Cubs promoted Eli Shayer to Senior Software Engineer/Analyst, Research & Development, Kyle Chin to Manager, Baseball Technology & Systems, Zack Brusso to Software Engineer, Baseball Systems, Sam Abrams to Coordinator, Pro Scouting, Ben Martin to Analyst, Research & Development/Development Coach, Bryan Guo to Assistant, Baseball Operations, Sarah Ketring to Assistant, Minor League Operations and transitioned Jasmine Horan to Analyst, Research & Development/Pro Personnel and Allyson Darragh to Coordinator, Minor League Operations & Player Support.
The Cubs also promoted Steve Boros and Jason Cooper to Senior Pro Personnel Specialist, Jake Ciarrachi and Kyle Phillips to Special Assignment Scout, Thad Weber to Pro Personnel Specialist, Max Brill and Steven Nagy to Pro Scout, Matt Sherman to Regional Supervisor, Amateur Scouting and Manuel RodrÃguez to Manager, International Operations.
