The Tampa Bay Rays recently bestowed a new contract and a new title on their baseball operations leader, Erik Neander. He began the season with dueling corporate epaulets — senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager — and is now president of baseball operations. This was not, however, an elevation in rank.
“This position is the same as it was yesterday, it just happens to have a different title,” the Rays team president, Matt Silverman, said. “It’s not a promotion — he’s been leading the department for years. But the title change itself is really just to make it more consistent with how the industry currently titles the department.