Guardians announce front office promotions

CLEVELAND -- The Guardians knew they had some shuffling to do within their front office this offseason, and the team announced its final decisions on Tuesday afternoon.

Here’s a breakdown of the internal promotions:

Matt Forman, executive vice president and assistant general manager
Forman has served as an assistant general manager to Chris Antonetti (president of baseball operations) and Mike Chernoff (general manager) over the last five seasons. He’ll now also take on the role of executive vice president, which will expand his responsibilities to help Chernoff and Antonetti manage the entire scope of baseball operations.

Eric Binder, assistant general manager
Binder has played a large role in Cleveland’s pitching development and spent the last nine seasons as the vice president of baseball operations. He’ll now join Forman as an assistant general manager to assist with other baseball operations responsibilities, while continuing to lead the club’s pitching efforts and supporting the Major League field staff with strategic planning and activities.

James Harris, assistant general manager
Harris will be transitioning from his role as the director of player development. He’ll continue to lead the player development system, but will now assist with other tasks, including player and staff procurement and development, along with player personnel decisions at the Major and Minor League levels.

Paul Gillispie, senior vice president of scouting
Gillispie has taken on nearly every title imaginable within the Guardians’ scouting department during his 16-year tenure. He’ll now lead the organization in both amateur and international scouting, while also co-leading the club’s player evaluation and professional scouting process scouts with Victor Wang.

Lonnie Soloff, senior vice president of medical services
Soloff served as Cleveland’s head athletic trainer from 2004-13 and will continue leading medical services pertaining to physical development, performance enhancement and injury prevention for both the Major and Minor League levels. He will also head the team’s sport science and sport psychology and mental performance departments.

Victor Wang, senior vice president of player acquisitions
Wang will advance from vice president of player acquisitions to senior vice president. He’ll continue to work with all player acquisitions and will provide decision processes and frameworks across the organization.

Alex Eckelman, vice president of hitting
Eckelman, who recently served as the team’s director of hitting development, will lead Cleveland’s hitting development and performance throughout the organization, including the Major and Minor Leagues.

Alex Merberg, vice president of baseball operations -- development
Entering his eighth season with Cleveland, Merberg will lead the team’s efforts in providing evidence-based coaching support and resources, player assessments and analysis for the Major Leagues, Minor Leagues and scouting.

Other promotions within the organization:

Andrew Bahnert: Director of physical development
Rob Cerfolio: Director of player development
Richard Conway: Director of international scouting
Nate Freiman: Director of hitting development
Chris Gale: Director of player evaluations
Sam Giller: Director of baseball operations -- technology
Will Landess: Director of baseball operations -- systems
Clint Longenecker: Director of player acquisitions
Stephen Osterer: Director of pitching development
Kevin Tenenbaum: Director of research and development

New hires within the organization:

Dr. Lindsay Shaw: Director of sport psychology
Jono Freeston: Director of sport science