The Detroit Tigers have a new leader in their international operations department.
The Tigers, led by president of baseball operations Scott Harris, hired Brad Ciolek from the Washington Nationals in September to oversee international operations, which includes international scouting. Until now, he had never worked on the international side of baseball operations.
After Ciolek’s hire, Tom Moore – the longtime director of international operations – transitioned into a new role as a senior advisor in the department.
Ciolek, 39, has spent the 18 years working for the New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles and Nationals in several player development and scouting roles, including the past two seasons as the senior director of amateur scouting for the Nationals.
His first MLB job was as a media relations intern for the Mets in 2007.
Ciolek became an intern in the Mets’ player development department from 2008-10, then he worked as an intern in the Orioles’ player development department in 2011. He wasn’t involved in baseball in 2012, serving as an analyst with the sports platform at Bloomberg, but he returned to the Orioles when a full-time role opened up in 2013 – and stayed through 2023.
His tenure with the Orioles lasted 12 seasons.
During that time, Ciolek served as an amateur scout for nearly six years, the director of amateur scouting for nearly two years, the supervisor of domestic counting for four years and the director of draft operations for two years.
As the director of draft operations, Ciolek oversaw everything that impacted the MLB draft for the Orioles. He traveled across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to evaluate and recommend players, supervised a team of scouting analysts and managed the signing bonus pool for the draft.
The Nationals hired Ciolek in October 2023.
He spent two years as the Nationals’ senior director of amateur scouting before the Tigers hired him for a new opportunity in international operations.
Ciolek earned his master’s degree in computer information services from Colorado State in 2017 while employed by the Orioles, giving him a background in analytics. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Seton Hall in 2009.
Longtime amateur scouting assistant director replaced
The Tigers declined to renew the contract of longtime assistant director of amateur scouting Eric Nieto.
To replace Nieto, the Tigers hired Theo Hooper from the Texas Rangers in October as the new assistant director of amateur scouting – working under amateur scouting director Mark Conner, who has been with the Tigers since October 2022.
Hooper, 27, spent the past six years with the Rangers, beginning as a data apprentice for two years before becoming an assistant on the major league staff for four years. At the MLB level, he performed in advance scouting and game planning.
Prior to the Rangers, Hooper worked for the Tampa Bay Rays as a minor league video intern for five months during the 2019 season – his first job in professional baseball.
Hooper graduated from Tennessee in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in recreation and sports management. He spent two years as a student assistant with Tennessee baseball.
As for Nieto, the Tigers ended his 12-year tenure, which featured three roles as he climbed the ranks: scouting assistant in international operations for three years, assistant director of amateur and international scouting for one year and assistant director of amateur scouting for nearly eight years.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers’ Scott Harris hires Brad Ciolek in front office
