Orioles Hire 2 Veteran Baseball Executives
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- The Orioles have hired two new executives to their staff. Lee Thomas will be the new special assistant to the executive vice president of Baseball Operations and Fred Ferreira will be the executive director of International Recruiting.
Thomas has been involved with professional baseball for more than 50 years, most recently as a pro scout for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2004-2006. Prior to that, he worked as a special assistant to the general manager and assistant general manager for the Red Sox working closely with Dan Duquette, the executive vice-president of Baseball Operations for the Baltimore Orioles. He won the Executive of the Year award in 1993 for leading the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series as general manager of the team. However, the majority of his career was spent with the St. Louis Cardinals. He worked in several capacities for the Cardinals from 1970 to 1988, the last eight years as director of player development. Under his leadership, the Cardinals went to the World Series in 1982, 1985 and 1987.
He also played eight seasons of major league baseball as an outfielder and a first baseman with the New York Yankees, California Angels, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. He was named to the American League All-Star team in 1962.
Ferreira is well-known as "The Shark of the Caribbean" because of his ability to find talent in Latin America. In a career spanning four decades in professional baseball operations, he has signed 57 players who reached the major leagues, notably Vladimir Guerrero, Bernie Williams, Orlando Cabrera, Jose Vidro, Roberto Kelly and Javier Vazquez.
He served as the vice president and director of international operations and scouting for the Montreal Expos and Florida Marlins. He worked as the director for international operations and scouting for the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds, and scouted for the Los Angeles Angels.
Ferreira also brings managerial experience, spending two seasons as manager of the Yankees' Gulf Coast League affiliate and the Dominican Winter Leagues. He opened the Yankees' Dominican Academy in the Dominican Republic to train players that he discovered in Latin America.
"I am pleased to bring these two quality, veteran baseball men to the Orioles organization," Duquette said. "Lee will assist me in communications with other clubs regarding trades and also will provide key input regarding our player development. Fred's experience in international scouting for first division teams is critical as we expand the Orioles' international recruiting efforts. The track records of these men speak for themselves and I look forward to having them on our staff."
