DETROIT – The Tigers today announced several hires and promotions within its baseball operations department, impacting scouting, analytics and player development.
Scouting
The Tigers have hired P.J. Jones, John Stockstill and Josh Wilson as Major League Scouts. Additionally, Joey Lothrop, Steve Taylor and Matt Zmuda join the amateur scouting department as Area Scouts, while Justin Henry and Dave Lottsfeldt will now serve as Regional Crosscheckers.
Jones spent the 2018 season as a video coordinator in the Chicago Cubs organization. After finishing his collegiate career at Washington State University, he was a 19th round selection of the Seattle Mariners in the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Following the 2016 season, Jones returned to Washington State University as an assistant coach on the baseball team.
Stockstill has been in professional baseball for 38 years, beginning as a player in the Chicago Cubs organization in 1978. Most recently he worked for the Baltimore Orioles from 2005-2018, serving in a variety of roles including Major League Scout, Director of Player Personnel, Director of Player Development, Director of International Scouting and Assistant General Manager - Major League Scouting.
Wilson joins the Tigers professional scouting department after finishing an eight-year Major League career in which he played for nine teams, including the Tigers in 2015. Wilson played in 431 games during his career, 234 of them at shortstop.
Lothrop was previously an amateur scouting intern with the Tigers during the 2018 season, following two seasons working for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League. The Boise, Idaho native's scouting area covers Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona and El Paso, Texas.
Taylor joins the Tigers as an Area Scout after spending nine years with the Miami Marlins as an Area Scout and Regional Crosschecker. Prior to his time with Miami, Taylor worked for Detroit from 1999-2007 as an Area Scout and Atlanta from 2008-2009 as a Regional Crosschecker. His area currently covers North Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Zmuda served as an amateur scouting intern with the Tigers during the 2018 season after spending the 2017 season as an intern with the Wareham Gateman in the Cape Cod League. The Toledo, Ohio native's area covers Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., Delaware and Pennsylvania.
Baseball Analytics
Joining the baseball analytics department is Josh Kragness as Senior Software Engineer, in addition to Beau Horan, Aidan Kearns and Zach Wolf as Analysts. Jim Logue has been promoted to Director of Baseball Analytics, while Drew Jordan, Maggie O'Hara, Shane Piesik and Danny Vargovick have been promoted to Senior Analysts.
Player Development
Rafael Martinez will serve as the Director of Latin American Player Development, after spending the 2018 season as a batting practice pitcher for the Tigers. Since transitioning to coaching in 2010, Martinez has held positions throughout the Detroit player development system, including manager of Gulf Coast League Tigers West in 2016 and five seasons as the manager of the Dominican Summer League Tigers. He led DSL Tigers to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons (2013-14), including a championship run in 2013. Originally signed by the Dodgers as a non-drafted free agent in 1991, Martinez played seven years at the Minor League level.
Two additional hires to the player development department are David Allende and Jim McKew, each as Coordinators of Player Development. Allende worked as the Baseball Video Operations Assistant for the Tigers during the 2017-18 seasons and was a Minor League Video Coordinator during the 2016 campaign. McKew was a Minor League Video Coordinator for the 2017-18 seasons.
Moving to the role of Administrator at the Dominican Academy are Wilfredo Crespo and Jimmy Ortiz. Crespo previously served as an international operations intern with the Tigers, while Ortiz had held the title of Administrative Assistant at the Dominican Academy since 2011.
