SF Giants: Tigers hire Scott Harris as their president of baseball ops

The SF Giants will have to hire a new general manager after Scott Harris agreed to become the Detroit Tigers' president of baseball operations.

Marc Delucchi | Sep 19, 2022

SF Giants: Tigers hire Scott Harris as their president of baseball ops /

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Amidst a disappointing season, the pressure is on the SF Giants this offseason. However, before they try to make any big acquisitions to their roster, San Francisco will have to replace one of the biggest names in their front office. According to a report by Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Detroit Tigers have hired Giants general manager Scott Harris as their next president of baseball operations.

Harris replaces longtime Tigers general manager Al Avila, who parted ways with the organization in August, as Detroit's top front-office executive. He will look to build upon the Tigers' impressive collection of young pitching to help them return to contention in the AL Central.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi hired Harris at the end of the 2019 season. Harris had previously worked with the Cubs from 2012-2019, finishing his tenure in Chicago as an assistant general manager. Prior to that, Harris had worked as an intern with the Nationals and Reds. He also worked for Major League Baseball from 2010-2012.

Harris' experience has come with significant on-field accomplishment. He helped the Cubs reach three National League Championship Series and, of course, win the 2016 World Series. In his three years with the Giants, he obviously played a part in building the team's 107-win roster in 2021. However, Harris was close to two scandals during his time in Chicago.

Harris was the Cubs assistant general manager in 2019, when the team opted to bring shortstop Addisson Russell back after he had been accused of intimate-partner abuse by multiple women and was suspended by the league for 40 games for violating MLB's domestic violence policy. His rise also coincided with Jared Porter, another former top executive with the Cubs.

Porter was hired as the Mets' general manager after the 2020 season but was fired later that offseason after a report by Passan and Mina Kimes of ESPN revealed he had harassed a woman reporter during his time with the Cubs. At least one other person in the organization was made aware at the time.

Harris never publicly addressed the Russell or Porter situation, leaving it difficult to know his opinion on Chicago's handling of Russell or Porter's actions. However, given the track record of most big-league franchises, it's reasonable to be concerned about Harris' ties to both situations.

Published Sep 19, 2022

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).