Matt Blood leaves Texas Rangers for Baltimore Orioles

Matt Blood, who was hired in November, 2018, to be the Rangers Director of Player Development, and then was shifted to “Director of Baseball Innovation” in August, has joined the Baltimore Orioles as their Director of Player Development, the Orioles announced on Twitter today. The Orioles announcement says that Blood “will spearhead staff recruitment, technology programs, and player development strategies through the minor leagues.”

The Blood hiring by the Rangers was characterized as an “outside-the-box” hiring by Levi Weaver, when he wrote about the changes that included Blood’s reassignment in August. Blood was the head of Team USA’s U-18 program when the Rangers brought him in as part of a major front office overhaul this past season.

Its fair to assume that the marriage between Blood and the Rangers didn’t quite work, given that he had a change in duties just nine months into his tenure with Texas, and is now leaving the organization to join Baltimore in a position with the same title that the Rangers originally gave him. Obviously, bringing folks in from the outside, particularly when they come from a non-traditional background, always carries with it risks about how well they will fit, and it appears that this was a hire that didn’t work for the Rangers. We shall see how they plan on addressing the position Blood filled going forward.