The Phillies are hiring Anirudh Kilambi as the team’s new assistant general manager, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link). The 27-year-old Kilambi comes to Philadelphia after working as the Rays’ assistant director of baseball research and development, and according to The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, Kilambi will now oversee the Phils’ research and development division.
Kilambi began interning with the Rays front office in 2015 and worked his way up to his AD role in a little over three years’ time. In a piece from last August, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times named Kilambi as one of the many organizational figures instrumental in the Rays’ ability to find and develop a seeming unending stream of quality relief pitchers.
As evidenced by the long list of Tampa executives who have gone on to lead or work within other front offices, teams are forever curious to learn some of the Rays’ secrets. If Kilambi can duplicate his magic in Philadelphia, it will be a particular boon to a team that has been plagued by a severe lack of reliable relief pitching in recent years.
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