Cubs Officially Announce Baseball Ops Promotions

Though they have little to show for it in the way of player acquisitions, the Cubs have actually been busy as an organization this winter. Much of that activity has come within the front office itself, where replacing Craig Breslow precipitated a host of moves in addition to some other shifts. The biggest of this have already been reported, so I’ll just turn it over to the press release for more details.

The Chicago Cubs today announced baseball operations promotions and new hires heading into the 2024 season.

Jared Banner has been promoted to Assistant General Manager after he was named Vice President, Player Development in 2022. He joined the Cubs in December of 2020 as Vice President, Special Projects following time as Executive Director, Player Development with the New York Mets starting in December of 2018. Banner began his pro career with the Boston Red Sox in 2007 and was the organization’s Vice President, Player Personnel in 2017-18. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., he played four years of varsity baseball as an outfielder for Amherst College.

Andrew Bassett has been elevated to Vice President, Professional Scouting following two years as Director, Pro Scouting/Special Assistant to the President & General Manager. He joined the Cubs in 2011 and has held various positions within the Baseball Operations and Scouting departments. Prior to joining Chicago, Bassett 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.

Meghan Jones has been promoted to Vice President, Baseball Strategy after she served as Director, Baseball Operations – Administration and Strategy in 2023. Jones joined the club in August of 2016 as Executive Assistant to the President and General Manager of Baseball Operations. She earned her B.S. in Psychology, Marketing in 2013 from Loyola University Chicago and received her Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University in 2021.

Garrett Chiado has been named Senior Director, Baseball Operations – Professional Acquisitions after serving as Director, Pro Strategy in 2023 and Director, Pro Analytics in 2022. He joined the Cubs Research and Development group in 2016, and previously held the Senior Player Evaluation Analyst, Research and Development position. 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.

Jason Kanzler joins the organization as Director, Player Development following five years in the Houston Astros organization, including serving as the Major League Coach in 2022 and the Major League Assistant Hitting Coach in 2023. He was Houston’s Minor League Hitting Coordinator in 2021 following two years as a minor league hitting coach. A former outfielder, Kanzler was selected by Minnesota in the 20th round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Buffalo and played three minor league seasons. He earned a degree in Psychology from Buffalo and is also a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

Ryan Otero has been promoted to Director, Pitching following time as Assistant Director, Pitching in 2023. He is in his seventh season with Chicago after joining in 2018 as Assistant, Player Development and has also spent time in the Research and Development department. A former right-handed pitcher at the collegiate level, Otero earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering in 2015 from the University of Miami and earned his Master’s Degree in Business Intelligence and Analytics from Saint Joseph’s University in 2016.

Kyle Chin has been promoted to Director, Baseball Technology after serving as Assistant Director, Baseball Technology in 2023. He joined the organization in 2018 as Software Developer, Baseball Operations and was named Manager, Baseball Systems and Technology in the 2021-22 offseason. Chin graduated from the University of Michigan in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.

Scottie Munson has been named Assistant Director, Amateur Scouting following time as Coordinator, Amateur Scouting. He joined the Cubs in November of 2020 following three years as a consultant at Bain & Company. Munson graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a degree in Economic Consulting, Public Policy Analysis, and a Political Science minor.

Will Remillard has been promoted to Assistant Director, Hitting following time as Manager, Hitting Development. Selected by Chicago in the 19th round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Coastal Carolina University, the former catcher and infielder reached Triple-A in 2018, his final season on the field.

Kenny Socorro has been elevated to Assistant Director, International Scouting from Coordinator, International Scouting. A former infielder in the Cubs organization from 2011-13, he joined Chicago’s front office in 2014 as Assistant, Player Development/International Scouting. He attended Marshall University in Huntington, W.V.

In addition to the changes above, Bryan Guo has been promoted to Coordinator, Player Development; Sarah Ketring has been promoted to Coordinator, Minor League Operations; and Cal Christofori has been elevated to Assistant, Baseball Operations.

In Research and Development, Kyle Blum has been elevated to Senior Analyst, Baseball Sciences; Shingo Murata has been promoted to Manager, Baseball Analytics/Pacific Rim Liaison; and Jeremy Frank has been promoted to Baseball Analytics Analyst.

In Pro Scouting, Jake Ciarrachi, Kyle Phillips, Mitchell Webb and Thad Weber have been named Specialist, Senior Pro Personnel; Andrew Ahn and Steven Nagy have both been promoted to Specialist, Pro Personnel; and Sam Abrams has been elevated to Pro Scouting Analyst.

In International Scouting, Brent Phelan has been promoted to Scouting Supervisor; Albert Gonzalez has been elevated to International/Global Crosschecker; and Marco Prieto has been promoted to Latin America Scout, Venezuela.

In Amateur Scouting, Bobby Filotei has been promoted to Special Assistant to the VP of Scouting; Matt Sherman has been elevated to National Field Coordinator; Garrett Tolivar has been named Coordinator, Amateur Scouting Video; Ben Kullavanijaya has been promoted to Coordinator, Amateur Scouting; Alex Lontayo has been elevated to Regional Coordinator, Scouting; Jacob Williams has been promoted from Area Scout to Southeast Regional Coordinator; and John Pedrotty has been promoted from Area Scout to Northeast Regional Coordinator.