Tigers hire ex-Giants GM Harris as president of baseball operations

The Detroit Tigers announced they've hired former San Francisco Giants general manager Scott Harris to be their new president of baseball operations.

Harris takes over for longtime GM Al Avila, who was fired Aug. 10 after eight seasons with the team. Assistant GM Sam Menzin had assumed the role on an interim basis for the last five weeks.

"Scott's vision for how to construct a baseball organization to compete and win in the modern game is impressive," Tigers chairman and CEO Christopher Ilitch said in a statement obtained by Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic.

"His leadership ability is polished from both his experience as an executive at multiple levels and mentorship from some of the game's most talented baseball operations leaders. Scott is a difference-maker, innovator, and fiercely competitive, always looking for an edge."

Harris spent the last three years as the Giants' GM. He helped assemble San Francisco's surprising 107-win team in 2021 and built a roster that posted the majors' fourth-best winning percentage (.613) during his time in the organization.

Before joining the Giants, Harris spent seven years working under Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer with the Chicago Cubs, primarily as an assistant GM. Harris received a 2016 World Series ring for his role in building the Cubs' most recent championship club. He also spent two years as MLB's coordinator of major-league operations.

Harris had become a highly sought-after executive and turned down the New York Mets' GM job last winter, according to Stavenhagen.

Harris, who earned his MBA from Northwestern University in 2015 while working for the Cubs, takes over a Tigers organization that's still trying to emerge from a painful rebuild. The team developed several bright young prospects over the past few years, including first overall picks Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson, and aimed to improve on a 77-win 2021 campaign by signing big-name free agents Eduardo Rodriguez and Javier Baez over the winter.

However, the Tigers took a major step backward this year, which ultimately led to the front-office shake-up. After jumping to third place last year, they've returned to the AL Central basement and will finish with 90 losses for the fourth time in the last six seasons.

Since their most recent playoff berth in 2014, the Tigers have had just one winning season while posting a winning percentage below .400 four times, including a 114-loss campaign in 2019. The franchise hasn't won an American League pennant since 2012 and last claimed a World Series title in 1984.

Los Angeles Dodgers executive Josh Byrnes was also reportedly a candidate for the Tigers' job, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Orange County Register.