Orioles announce scouting promotions in baseball operations
The Baltimore Orioles today announced the following promotions within the scouting departments in Baseball Operations: MATT BLOOD has been promoted from Director, Player Development to Vice President, Player Development and Domestic Scouting; KOBY PEREZ has been promoted from Senior Director, International Scouting to Vice President, International Scouting and Operations; MIKE SNYDER has been promoted from Director, Pro Scouting to Senior Director, Pro Scouting; GERARDO CABRERA has been promoted from Latin American Supervisor to Director, Latin American Scouting; KEVIN CARTER has been promoted from Senior Analyst, Pro Scouting to Manager, Pro Scouting; HENDRIK HERZ has been promoted from Senior Analyst, Scouting to Manager, Domestic Scouting Analysis; CHAD TATUM has been promoted from Senior Analyst, Scouting to Manager, Domestic Scouting; WILL ROBERTSON has been promoted from Senior Analyst, Pro Scouting to Special Assignment Scout; ALEX TARANDEK has been promoted from Analyst, Scouting to Senior Analyst, Scouting; MICHAEL WEIS has been named Senior Data Scientist, Draft Evaluation, and MARIA ARELLANO has been named Senior Manager, International Operations and Baseball Administration.
“We are very proud to announce this wave of promotions for a group of exceptionally talented and hard-working people,” said MIKE ELIAS, Orioles Executive Vice President and General Manager. “Each has played a vital role in the recent success of the franchise, including the numerous accolades for our top-ranked farm system, the expansion of our international scouting presence, and of course bringing the AL East championship back to Baltimore with a historic 101-win season. I would like to congratulate each of these individuals on their well-deserved promotions and thank John Angelos and the entire partnership group for their steadfast support and investment in Orioles baseball.”
Blood will be responsible for overseeing the Orioles’ player development and domestic scouting operations, including staff recruitment and development, implementation of player development strategies and programs throughout the entire minor league system, and First-Year Player Draft operations. He will continue to report to Elias. Blood joined the Orioles organization as the Director of Player Development in September of 2019. During his tenure, the Orioles have ascended organizational farm system rankings, now rated as the top system in all of baseball by Baseball America_, _ESPN_, and _MLB Pipeline. He has 12 years of Major League experience and has spent 18 years in professional and amateur baseball. Prior to joining the Orioles, Blood served as the Director of Player Development for the Texas Rangers for the 2019 season. He also worked for the St. Louis Cardinals as an area scout from 2009-15 and served as the Team Director for USA Baseball’s 18U National Team from 2016-18. Blood graduated from the University of North Carolina in 2007 with a degree in economics. He resides in Baltimore with his wife, Allison, and their two children, Henry and Ben.
Perez will continue to oversee all aspects of the Orioles’ international scouting operations and management of the club’s bonus pool. He will also assume supervision of operations at the Orioles’ training academy in the Dominican Republic while serving as the organization’s primary executive contact for all levels of Latin American player personnel business. Perez will continue to report to Elias. During his tenure, he has presided over four of the team’s most historic international signing classes. He guided the organization to the two largest signing classes in club history in 2019-20 and 2022-23, landed the first seven-figure signings in 2020-21 (Samuel Basallo and Maikol Hernández), and signed the two highest-paid international players in team history in 2021-22 (Braylin Tavera) and 2022-23 (Luis Almeyda). He has also been instrumental in the development of the club’s new state-of-the-art training academy in Guerra, Dominican Republic, which officially broke ground in October of 2021. Born in Tamayo, Dominican Republic, Perez grew up in North Bergen, N.J. He played for two seasons in the Red Sox organization from 2002-03 and in the Independent Atlantic League from 2003-05. Perez received his bachelor’s degree in recreation and sports management from Florida International University. He currently resides in Elkridge, Md., with his wife, Johanna, and their two children, Pamela and Koby (KJ).
Snyder will continue to oversee the club’s pro scouting and player analysis across the majors, minors, and Asian professional leagues, and assist with contract negotiations, 40-man roster construction, player transactions, and departmental hiring. He previously served as the club’s Director of Pacific Rim Operations & Baseball Development (2015-19), Assistant Director of Player Personnel (2013-14), Assistant Director of Scouting and Player Development (2012), Baseball Operations Assistant and International Scout (2010-11), and Baseball Operations Intern (2009). In his time with the Orioles, he has had active involvement in the amateur draft, international scouting, compliance, contracts, and salary arbitration, in addition to his pro scouting leadership that has contributed to several impact acquisitions. Snyder will continue to report to Elias. He graduated with honors from Princeton University (NJ) in 2008 with a degree in economics, and he received his master’s degree in applied and computational mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 2019. Snyder and his wife, Lindsay, reside in Frederick, Md. with their two children, Ellie and Jonah.
Cabrera will lead the Latin America scouting process and manage the organization’s scouts in that area. He has worked for the club as a Dominican Republic Scouting Supervisor (2019-2021) and Latin American Scouting Supervisor (2021-2023) after previously serving in various roles in the amateur scouting process with the New York Mets in the Dominican Republic from 2009-19. Cabrera was involved in the signing of current O’s minor leaguer Samuel Basallo as well as current big leaguers Rafael Montero (HOU), Amed Rosario (LAD), Andres Giménez (CLE), Francisco Alvarez and Ronny Mauricio (NYM), and Endy Rodríguez (PIT). Cabrera will continue to report to Perez. He played professionally in the Cincinnati Reds organization from 2005-08 after playing at Miami Dade College (FL). Cabrera received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Universidad O & M (DR) in 2004. He resides in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with his wife, Belgica, and their three children, Jadhir, Harmony, and Hanna.
Herz will oversee the data-driven player evaluation group within the domestic scouting department. He joined the organization in 2015 as a Player Development Intern, moved permanently into the front office in 2016, and has played an integral role in the last eight amateur drafts for the Orioles. He will report to Blood. Herz graduated from Temple University (PA) and resides in Baltimore.
Tatum will continue focusing on the First-Year Player Draft, overseeing the club’s player evaluation group and remaining heavily involved in the draft process within the domestic scouting department. He joined the organization in 2018 as a Baseball Operations Assistant after graduating from Rice University, playing a large role in the club’s last six drafts. Tatum will report to Blood. He resides in Baltimore.
Carter will assist Snyder in managing the work of the pro scouting department while continuing his contributions as one of the organization’s key professional talent evaluators. He will continue to report to Snyder. Carter and his wife, Tara, reside in Baltimore.
Robertson will use his expertise as both an office-based and in-person evaluator to assist the Orioles’ decision-makers in all manner of player evaluations across every category: pro, international, First-Year Player Draft, and the minor league system. He will report to Assistant General Manager EVE ROSENBAUM. Robertson was selected by the Orioles in the 30th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft as an outfielder out of Davidson College (NC) and played three seasons before joining the pro scouting department prior to the 2020 season. He resides in Baltimore.
Tarandek will continue to evaluate amateur players for the draft using video, data, and in-person evaluations to assist the club in the First-Year Player Draft process. He will report to Herz. Tarandek joined the organization in November 2019 as a Scouting Analyst, Domestic Scouting after previously working for the Cincinnati Reds (2019) and Detroit Tigers (2018). He graduated from the University of Southern California and resides in Baltimore.
Weis will expand his influence in what has been a key role in providing analytics support to the Orioles’ draft process and amateur player evaluations. He will continue to report to Vice President and Assistant General Manager SIG MEJDAL and will work closely with Blood, Tatum, and Herz. Weis joined the organization in early 2019 as a baseball analyst after working as a data scientist in various industries outside of baseball. He and his wife, Emily, reside in Towson, Md. with their two children, Hudson and Caden.
Arellano will continue providing support to the international scouting department and various aspects of the Orioles’ player personnel operations. She will continue to report to Perez. Arellano joined the organization in February 2006. She resides in Baltimore.