CLEVELAND -- Brad Grant has spent the past decade overseeing all elements of the MLB Draft for the Indians, helping the club strengthen its farm system and making several selections that have played a role in Cleveland's recent success at the big league level. Now, Grant is moving up in the team's front office.
On Friday, the Indians announced that Grant has been promoted to the role of vice president of baseball operations, strategy and administration. Scott Barnsby, who has been in the Tribe's amateur scouting department since 2002, was named the team's new director of amateur scouting, assuming the role that Grant filled since November of '07.
• Indians front office
"These promotions are recognition of the impact Brad and Scott have made on the organization," Indians general manager Mike Chernoff said in a release. "And more broadly, an acknowledgement of our amateur scouting group. Brad has been instrumental in revamping the amateur scouting department's processes and culture, and we look forward to expanding his role in new areas to impact all departments and personnel across baseball operations.
"Scott has built strong relationships across the organization and earned the respect of people industry-wide, and we're excited about him guiding the department's continuous improvement."
Barnsby just finished his third season as the Indians' assistant director of scouting and will take over the day-to-day management of the amateur scouting department.
On the Indians' current 40-man roster, there are 15 players who were drafted and signed by the team under Grant. Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, Bradley Zimmer, Cody Allen, Josh Tomlin and Roberto Perez are among the current Major Leaguers who were drafted and developed by the Indians during Grant's 10-year tenure, which was the longest in club history for an amateur scouting director.
In his new role, Grant will assist the baseball operations department in all facets, including the "coordination of capital projects and strategy in the areas of resource prioritization and allocation," per the team's release. Grant will also continue to assist in the club's scouting and player acquisition areas (amateur, international and pro scouting) and will serve as a bridge between baseball and business operations.