(670 The Score) Blackhawks associate general manager Jeff Greenberg, a former Cubs executive, has made his return to MLB.
Greenberg has been hired as the Tigers’ new general manager, the team announced Thursday morning. Greenberg had spent the past 16 months working in the Blackhawks’ front office as the team conducted a teardown and started its rebuild. Prior to that, Greenberg worked for the Cubs for 11 seasons, including the final three as an assistant general manager.
In Detroit, Greenberg will reunite with Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris, who also used to work for the Cubs.
“I’m thrilled to add an executive of Jeff’s quality to our baseball operations leadership team,” Harris said in a statement. “Throughout this search, it was important for me to find someone who can fit seamlessly into the culture we’re building here. I also wanted to bring in someone with a fresh perspective and new ideas that could challenge us on a daily basis and make us all better as we strive towards our goal of bringing postseason baseball back to Detroit. We’re excited to welcome Jeff, his wife, Erin, and their sons, Leo and Sam, to the Tigers family.”
The Blackhawks also thanked Greenberg for his work. He oversaw strategic systems and processes in hockey operations for them.
“We will miss Jeff's expertise and appreciate the contributions he made to the Blackhawks,” Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement. “We all wish him and his family the best in this incredible opportunity with the Detroit Tigers. Our hockey operations department is full of talented leaders, and I have full confidence in that team to continue working towards our goals of sustained success. Off the ice, the processes and systems are in place to develop our team on the ice. I look forward to continuing that journey with our group.”
Greenberg will join a Tigers team that’s amid a rebuild and which was sitting at 71-81 entering play Thursday. Detroit hasn’t had a winning season since 2016.
“It’s an extraordinary honor to take on this role with one of the most historic franchises in Major League Baseball,” Greenberg said in a statement.
“Throughout my conversations with Scott, Chris Ilitch and the rest of the team with the Tigers, it became clear that this organization is headed in a great direction with an incredible culture of development and innovation that I’m excited to be part of. Another constant message in those conversations was that Tigers fans want to see winning baseball deep into October. I’m excited to get to work with our front office on offseason and longer-term plans to make that our reality.”