A couple weeks after firing Tigers longtime amateur scouting director Scott Pleiss and a day after dismissing longtime assistant general manager David Chadd, Scott Harris has made his first big hire as president of baseball ops for the Tigers.
Rob Metzler is his new assistant GM, the club announced Tuesday.
Metzler, also named vice president of the Tigers, comes to the organization after 15 seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays where he was the club's director of amateur scouting for the last seven years. Pleis filled that role in Detroit for the prior 12 seasons, over which time the Tigers made a mess of the MLB Draft.
With the Rays, Metzler was responsible for all scouting activities within the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and helped stock one of the richest farm systems in baseball. Tampa has a deep, steady stream of talent flowing to the majors every year.
"I am thrilled to add an executive of Rob’s caliber to lead our Amateur and International Scouting departments," Harris said in an official release. "Rob’s track record of success with the Rays speaks for itself and his innovative approach to talent acquisition will help us achieve one of our main goals: to acquire, develop and retain young talent in Detroit.”
Metzler was responsible for the Rays drafting 2022 All-Star Game starter Shane McClanahan 31st overall in 2018, as well as the likes of Nathaniel Lowe (13th round, 2016) who hit 27 homers this season and infielder Taylor Walls (third round, 2017), one of the Rays' top players this year. He also drafted two of the top-100 prospects in baseball in pitcher Taj Bradley (fifth round, 2018) and shortstop Carson Williams (first round, 2021).
Related
In Detroit, Metzler will try to revive a farm system that has graduated most of its top prospects to the majors in recent years and now ranks as one of the weakest in baseball. He called it a "tremendous opportunity" to join Harris and the Tigers.
"We're going to hit the ground running to ensure our processes of amateur scouting at both the domestic and international levels are the best they can possibly be, and search for the most comprehensive information possible to help inform our decision making," Metzler said in the release.
Like Harris, the 41-year-old Metzler boasts an impressive academic resume, including a master’s dual-degree from UMass Amherst. He said he's coming to Detroit to recreate the success he enjoyed with the Rays, "culminating with winning baseball at Comerica Park for years to come."
Listen live to 97.1 The Ticket via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker