Orioles Exec VP & GM Mike Elias said that the team's reductions in the baseball department were "part of a painful but required overhaul of the organization, one that has shown early fruits but is far from finished," according to Jon Meoli of the BALTIMORE SUN. Elias said, "It's tough stuff, but we're trying to reposition our organization for the future, to compete in our division and in this game. Decisions like this are often necessary and difficult, but right now we're 46-97, and we've got a long way to go to get better. We need to do things differently." This comes as MLB clubs are "engaged in a player-development arms race." Elias said there is a "very large wave of change going on around baseball." Elias: "There are just a lot of changes going on in a lot of different areas of investment for teams than there were five or 10 years ago." Meoli notes for the Orioles, that will mean a "largely overhauled staff on the field side and in the office when it comes to scouting and player development." Elias said that the "expectation is the Orioles will hire people to fill the 25 vacant positions created." Elias: "There are going to be positions here that have never existed before with the Orioles. There will be others that are much more familiar, and I think when we all open the media guide on Feb. 1, we'll see what exactly it looks like" (BALTIMORE SUN, 9/11).
DIFFERENT DIRECTION: In San Jose, Kerry Crowley notes the Giants have "taken the first steps in their plans to institute widespread changes across various levels of the organization." Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said that the organization has "let go" of 40% of the team's pro scouts. The Giants "opened the season with a 20-person pro scouting department, which was one of the largest" in MLB, and Zaidi indicated that the team fired eight of those scouts. Changes are "likely coming to the amateur scouting department too where Zaidi said the Giants expect to have a 'definitive direction' within the next few days" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 9/11).
