MLB Rumors: Pirates Reportedly Make Change To Front Office

The Pittsburgh Pirates are reportedly making another change to their front office.

The club is moving John Bajker from the director of coaching and player development to a new role overseeing the team’s performance, according to Sports Illustrated’s Nathaniel Marrero.

In the new role, Baker will be more involved in areas such as strength and conditioning, nutrition, mental skills and more, ranging from the big league through the minors.

Baker joined the Pirates in 2020 as the director of coaching and player development, which was within the farm director role. He previously spent five years in baseball operations with the Chicago Clubs as the mental skills coordinator and head applied mental skills coach.

In 359 career games, Baker produced a .247 batting average with 14 home runs and 120 RBIs across seven seasons as a catcher with the Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres and Cubs.

The change to Baker’s role marks the fourth the Pirates have made this offseason. Max Kwan was named the team’s new director of international scouting, replacing Junior Vizcaino after the Pirates chose not to renew his contract. Kevin Tenenbaum is slated to become Pittsburgh’s new vice president of research and development, and with Will Lawton moving to a new role within the organization, the Pirates will name a new pro scouting director.

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