CINCINNATI -- Nick Krall has worked his way up in the baseball industry from the very bottom. Once a batboy for the Oakland A's at the dawn of the Moneyball era, Krall is now the general manager of the Reds.
Cincinnati president of baseball operations Dick Williams relinquished the GM title on Thursday and promoted Krall from the assistant GM role he's held since November 2015, when Williams took over from Walt Jocketty.
Williams will continue to oversee the organization's baseball operations department.
"We're going through a busy time here. We're in the middle of a rebuilding project and process," Williams said. "It's been all hands on deck here. It's important we focus on our operations and doing everything we can to get the ship pointed in the right direction."
The move follows a trend that's popular among Major League teams -- including the Cubs, Twins and Dodgers -- where the top of the baseball operations is run in tandem by a president and a GM. As the GM's responsibilities and the size of clubs' operations have increased in the current game, having two people split the tasks makes it more manageable.

"This year between all the activity we're going to have around the Major League team and activity we'll have behind the scenes, it just made sense to transition to this type of structure, which is becoming increasingly common around the league," Williams said.
The Reds, who entered the day with a 10-27 record, will be conducting a manager search for a permanent replacement for Bryan Price after he was let go on April 19. The club, which already traded catcher Devin Mesoraco to the Mets for pitcher Matt Harvey on Tuesday, could also be active ahead of the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline.
"It's a collaborative process with Dick still as the president of baseball operations," Krall said. "I will just have an increased responsibility in getting things done and working with all of the parties."

Williams also noted there are unspecified "internal projects" that will be happening this summer.
"Given the amount of time that's going to take, I think it's important to have two people empowered with the title of GM and president to be able to cover all the bases," Williams said. "I do see an increase in workload this year with what we're trying to accomplish and the speed with which we want to accomplish it."
Following an internship with the Class A Short-Season New York-Penn League's New Jersey Cardinals, Krall got his start with a big league team working for the A's in 2001-02. He started out as a clubhouse assistant and bat boy, then eventually moved into baseball operations.
The Reds hired Krall in 2003 to oversee the team's advance scouting preparation. He moved up in the organization under past GMs, including Wayne Krivsky and Jocketty, and he was promoted to assistant director of baseball operations in '13. Krall became the senior director of baseball operations in '14 and became assistant GM after the '15 season.
As assistant GM, Krall assisted Williams with day-to-day Major League operations, including arbitration and contract negotiations, rules and waivers compliance and player acquisitions. Krall also oversees the Reds' professional scouting department and the baseball operations intern program while working closely with the amateur scouting, analytics and player development departments.
"No question, it's very exciting," Krall said of his latest opportunity. "This is my 16th year here. We've been through some ups and downs. I'm looking forward to getting back, very shortly, to the ups. I really love this organization, I love the people in this organization. What we're doing now, we are headed on the right track and hopefully are getting there sooner than later."