Cubs make series of front-office promotions

CHICAGO -- One of Jed Hoyer's first tasks after taking over as the Cubs' new president of baseball operations was to build his front office. While Hoyer does plan on searching for a general manager from outside the organization, continuity was valued for other posts.

Hoyer did not feel a complete overhaul of the Cubs' leadership structure was required as part of the post-Theo Epstein era.

• Cubs' biggest questions as Hoyer takes over

"Given our success and given the talent of our front office," Hoyer said recently, "I don't think that's necessary right now. I think some fresh ideas in a targeted way make sense, but kind of full-scale changes to something that's been as successful as this doesn't seem like the right thing."

On Monday, the Cubs announced a series of front-office promotions, including moving Craig Breslow up to the role of assistant GM and vice president of pitching. He, alongside Jeff Greenberg (elevated to assistant GM earlier this year) and Randy Bush, will give Hoyer three assistant GMs as part of his restructured team.

Breslow is entering his third year with the Cubs, who brought him on board as the director of strategic initiatives in 2019. The former big league reliever was promoted to director of pitching, while serving as a special assistant to Epstein and Hoyer in '20.

This will be the first full season as an assistant GM for Greenberg, who joined the Cubs' baseball operations department in 2012. Greenberg most recently served as the director of pro scouting, following a stint as Chicago's director of baseball operations.

The wave of front-office announcements on Monday also included:

• Chris Moore (VP, research and development)

• Matt Dorey (VP, player development)

• Louie Eljaua (VP, international scouting)

• Alex Suarez (senior director, international player development and operations)

• Andrew Bassett (director, pro scouting)

• Greg Davey (director, baseball operations)

• Jeremy Greenhouse (director, strategic modeling in baseball operations research and development)

• Gian Guzman (director, Dominican Republic scouting operations/international crosschecker)

• Meghan Jones (assistant director, baseball operations administration and strategic initiatives)

• Garrett Chiado (senior player evaluation analyst in research and development)

• Nate Halm (pro personnel specialist)

• Adam Unes (coordinator, Minor League operations)

• Alex Smith (coordinator, Major League data and development)

• Jackson New-Smith (assistant, baseball operations).