Baltimore Orioles make significant promotions throughout their scouting department.

Now that the offseason is in full swing, the Baltimore Orioles have begun reworking their scouting department. No huge changes were made however, as the Orioles are staying in-house for the majority of their positions.

Matt Blood was promoted from Director of Player Development to Vice President of Player Development and Domestic Scouting. Anthony Villa will replace Blood as the new Director of Player Development. Villa was in control of the minor league hitting coordination after working at each level. Villa played with the White Sox system from 2016-18 and was a hitting coach with the Aberdeen IronBirds before covid cancelled the season.

Koby Perez was promoted from Senior Director of International Scouting to Vice President of International Scouting. Perez and the Orioles scouted multiple international prospects like Luis Almeyda (SS), Xavier Alvero (RHP), and Abraham Cohen (OF) earlier in 2023.

Mike Snyder was promoted from Director of Pro Scouting to Senior Director of Pro Scouting. Snyder started as a Baseball Operations intern in 2009 and became an International Scout from 2010-11. Snyder found his latest role in 2012 and has worked there ever since. Since coming to Baltimore, Snyder has been heavily involved in the amateur draft, international scouting and salary arbitration. He’ll continue to report to Mike Elias.

Gerardo Cabrera was promoted from Latin American Supervisor to Director of Latin American Scouting. Cabrera has previously worked for the O’s as a Dominican Scouting Supervisor (2019-21) and Latin American Scouting Supervisor (2021-23). He worked with the Mets in the Dominican Republic from 2009-19. Cabrera was a part of signing catching prospect Samuel Basallo (46th ranked MLB prospect). He also signed established big-leaguers Rafael Montero (HOU), Amed Rosario (LAD), Francisco Alvarez (NYM), and Endy Rodriguez (PIT). Cabrera played with the Cincinnati Reds Organization from 2005-08.

Kevin Carter was promoted from Senior Analyst of Pro Scouting to Manager of Pro Scouting. Carter will help Snyder in managing the pro scouting department. He’ll continue contributing as one of the organization’s key professional evaluators of talent, as well as reporting to Mike Snyder.

Hendrik Herz has been promoted from Senior Analyst of Scouting to Manager of Domestic Scouting Analysis. Herz joined the organization in 2015 and will look at the data-driven player evaluating group and the domestic scouting department. Herz has played a big role in the last eight amateur drafts and will report to Matt Blood.

Chad Tatum was promoted from Senior Analyst of Scouting to Manager of Domestic Scouting. Tatum will focus on the First-Year Player draft and be involved in the draft process with the scouting department. Tatum joined the organization in 2018 as a Baseball Operations assistant in 2018. Like Herz, Tatum has played a huge role in the last few drafts for the Orioles.

Will Robertson has been promoted from Senior Analyst of Pro Scouting to Special Assignment Scout. Robertson will use his experience in office-based and in-person evaluating to help the Orioles decision makers in player evaluations. Robertson was taken by the Orioles in the 30th round in 2017 and will report to Assistant General Manager Eve Rosenbaum.

Alex Tarandek has been promoted from Analyst of Scouting to Senior Analyst of Scouting. Tarandek will continue to look at amateur players for the draft using video, data and in-person evaluations. He joined the organization in November 2019 and previously worked for the Reds and the Detroit Tigers. Tarandek will report to Hendrik Herz.

Michael Weis has been named Senior Data Scientist of Draft Evaluation. Weis fills a key role in providing analytics to support the draft process for the O’s. Weis will work closely with Blood, Tatum, and Herz. Weis joined the organization in 2019 as a baseball analyst after working as a data scientist in industries outside of baseball. Weis will report to Assistant GM Sig Mejdal.

Maria Arellano was named Senior Manager of International Operations and Baseball Administration. Arellano will support the international scouting department and various aspects of the player personnel operations. Arellano joined the organization in 2006 and will report to Koby Perez.

General Manager Mike Elias said, “We are very proud to announce this wave of promotions for a group of exceptionally talented and hard-working people.” The Orioles will continue to grow what was already an impressive scouting group. These group of scouts have helped the Orioles draft stars like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, and most notably Jackson Holliday.