Pittsburgh Pirates News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Sep 8, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a Pittsburgh Pirates hat and glove before a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Pirates Must Replace Yet Another Front Office Piece

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Nov 4, 2025 7:00 AM ET

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have had important personnel decisions made in the front office this season, with another member of the staff leaving for a different job.

Joe Douglas, who worked as the head of player analysis for the Pirates, joined the St. Louis Cardinals as their director of pro acquisition on Oct. 31, according to Joe Denton of MLB.com. His job will see him working with scouts and the pro acquisition team, while directly communicating with Cardinals general manager/director of scouting Randy Flores.

What Did Joe Douglas Do With the Pirates?

Douglas hails from Greenville, Pa. and attended nearby Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pa., about 18 miles northwest of PNC Park.

He studied actuarial science, which uses statistical and mathematical models to look at risk in various fields. He earned his bachelor's degree in 2013 and then spent four years working for Bucks Consultant as an associate in the greater Pittsburgh area.

Douglas eventually joined the Pirates as a Quantitative Analyst in October 2017, then moved up to senior quantitative analyst in November 2018, where he used his experience dealing with numbers, statistical and financial models, R (programming language) and SQL (Structured Query Language).

He earned promotion to assistant director of player valuation in January 2021, before taking over his most recent role, head of player analysis in October 2024.

His work with the Pirates included him helping out general manager Ben Cherington, looking at the totality of a player, what he does well, why he does it, how he hits, fields pitches and more.

The goal was giving the Pirates an edge in finding young, upcoming talent and finding the right pieces for the franchise moving forward.

Who Replaces Him In the Pirates' front office?

The Pirates will likely go through an internal hiring process for finding their next head of player analysis.

Pittsburgh currently has four analysts in their research and development department that could take the role.

This includes Connor Kurcon, Noah Woodward and Amber Potter, who are analysts in the research and development department, plus Connor Rivers, who is a major league analyst.

The Pirates could also go outside their front office for this important hire, but internally is the most likely option for Cherington.

Other Pirates Front Office Moves this Offseason

The biggest Pirates front office move sawJustin Horowitz, who spent the past two seasons as the director of amateur scouting, join the Washington Nationals as their new president of baseball operations.

Horowitz led the Pirates in the past two MLB Drafts, as they took Konnor Griffin ninth overall in 2024, who is now the top prospect in baseball, and right-handed pitcher Seth Hernandez sixth overall in 2025, who is a top 30 prospect in baseball.

John Baker, who was the Pirates vice president of performance, is also no longer with team, with reports stating it as a "mutual parting of ways."

The Pirates reportedly hired a new pitching coach in Bill Murphy from the Houston Astros, after they chose not to bring back former pitching coach, Oscar Marin, after the 2025 season.

Murphy, who was the pitching coach for the Astros the past four seasons, 2022-25, led the team to the lowest ERA and the second-best K/9 during his tenure.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: