Cubs To Make International Scouting Hire

The Cubs are expected to bring in longtime Rays international scouting director Steve Miller, as first reported by Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. Miller will serve as vice president of Chicago’s international scouting department.

Miller graduated from the college coaching ranks in 2006 when he joined the Blue Jays as an area scout. He spent seven years with Toronto. Tampa Bay hired Miller in 2013. He’s been in the organization for more than a dozen seasons. The Rays promoted Miller to their top international scouting role in 2019.

The addition of Miller is part of some shuffling that’s already happened in the department. The Cubs moved former VP of international scouting Louie Eljaua to a different role at the beginning of this season, reports Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. Chicago also shifted veteran player development and amateur scouting official Alex Suarez to a new position. Suarez is now a special assistant to president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, per Mooney and Sharma.

As the duo from The Athletic pointed out, the Cubs’ international scouts produced a pair of major trade chips at this year’s deadline. Infield prospect Jefferson Rojas was shipped to the Mets for right-hander Clay Holmes. Rojas was signed as a 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic. He’s now one of the top prospects in the Mets’ system. Catcher Moisés Ballesteros was sent to the Angels for reliever Ryan Zeferjahn. Chicago signed him out of Venezuela in 2021.