The Arizona Diamondbacks announced on Friday night that they have hired Mike Fitzgerald to be their Director of Research and Development. He has spent the last five seasons in the front office for the Pittsburgh Pirates as a quantitative analyst. Less than a month ago, the Pirates lost long-time scout Greg Schilz to the Phillies.
For an in depth look at Fitzgerald and what he meant to the Pirates, check out this article on Grantland from Ben Lindbergh. It's definitely worth checking out.
This is a huge loss for the Pirates to say the least. Fitzgerald was a big part of the front office, who had a hand in everything from defensive alignments to the batting order to batter/pitcher match-ups.