The Nationals have hired Brad Ciolek as their new senior director of amateur scouting, as initially reported by The Athletics Keith Law ( ). was the first to report Cioleks specific new title, and hell work under another new hire in scouting director Danny Haas. Both Ha s and Ciolek worked together in the Orioles front office from 2012-19, with Ciolek only just leaving Baltimore after acting as the director of draft operations. The Talk Nats blog that amateur scout Reed Dunn is close to joining the organization, and Ciolek and Dunn are just two of several new hires within a significantly reshaped player development system. President of baseball operations Mike Rizzo has been looking to upgrade how the Nationals identify and develop young talent, as the latest step in the teams Najee Stevens-McKenzie Jersey rebuilding proce s. D.C. made some progre s with the big league roster in 2023, but with contention still probably at least one more years away, figuring out how to add more quality prospects to the pipeline is of major importance. Ciolek has plenty of experience on this front, as he contributed to the Orioles own rebuild, and the deep core of prospects that now has the Os in great shape to contend for the next decade. More from around the NL and AL East divisions Advancing to the NLDS means that the Phillies will now need a fourth starter, and and are set to throw simulated games on Sunday to ramp up their arms for the po sible a signment, writes. Neither pitcher saw any action in the first two playoff rounds, and neither has pitched since September 30, hence the need for some extra warm-up. Gelb figures Walker might get the official start in Game 4 since Walker has rarely ever worked as a reliever during his career, though both Walker and Sanchez could get some action during the game, perhaps in a piggyback capacity. The Phillies havent yet announced their starters for the first three games, though it is expected to be , , and , probably in that order. The Rays announced a series of internal promotions and role changes within their organization on Friday. has the full list, led by Blake Butera becoming the new senior director of player development. Just 31 years old, Butera will now oversee the Rays vaunted player development system just seven years after he was in the farm system himself as a 35th-round pick for Tampa Bay in the 2015 draft. After ending his playing career, Butera spent five years in the minors as a coach and manager in the Rays system, then worked as an a sistant field coordinator in 2023. Caperton Humphrey Jersey