Royals hire Gene Watson as vice president/assistant GM

The Royals announced the hiring of veteran executive Gene Watson as vice president and assistant general manager of major league scouting, relays Alec Lewis of The Athletic. Alden González of ESPN reported Wednesday that Watson would be taking on a role in the Kansas City front office.

Watson is no stranger to the Royals, as he previously spent 14 years in the organization as a scout and executive. He’d ascended to the role of senior director of pro scouting and assistant to the general manager before departing last December to join the Angels’ front office. Watson interviewed for the Angels’ GM job last winter and ultimately accepted a special adviser role in Los Angeles after the team hired Perry Minasian to lead baseball operations. (He also interviewed for the Astros’ GM job that eventually went to James Click the previous offseason).

Kansas City will welcome the well-respected evaluator back into the fold as part of a broader shakeup of the front-office structure. On Tuesday, the Royals promoted longtime GM Dayton Moore to president of baseball operations, bumping assistant GM J.J. Piccolo up to general manager in the process.