Phillies Announce Changes, Expand Analytics Department

The Philadelphia Phillies have announced several changes to their baseball operations staff, including expanding their analytics staff.

The following news was released by the team on Monday afternoon detailing the announced changes:

"Former team president and Hall of Famer Pat Gillick has resumed his role as senior advisor to the president & general manager.  Gillick, 78, is entering his 11^th full season with the Phillies, his second-longest tenure with any franchise behind his 18 spent with the Toronto Blue Jays.  The 2016 season will also mark Gillick’s 59^th in professional baseball.

Benny Looper has shifted to senior advisor, international operations.  Looper, 67, has been with the Phillies since November of 2008 and for seven years served as assistant general manager, player personnel, overseeing the entire scouting and player development area of baseball operations.  During Looper’s tenure as assistant GM, 11 minor league affiliates made the playoffs, with three of them winning their respective championship.

Ned Rice joined the organization this month as assistant general manager.  Rice, 33, spent 11 years with the Baltimore Orioles, the last three as director, major league administration.  In his role with the Orioles, he assisted in roster management, player contracts and negotiations, transactions, salary arbitration and rules compliance.  A 2005 graduate of The College of William & Mary, Rice’s background in Major League Baseball also includes player information analysis, video analysis and public relations.

Scott Freedman has been promoted to director, baseball operations.  Freedman, 32, was originally hired by the club in October of 2013 as manager, baseball analytics.  He previously worked in the labor relations department of the Office of the Commissioner from 2007-13 where he served in a variety of roles, including as a liaison to all 30 clubs with respect to the interpretation and application of the basic agreement, major league rules, and major and minor league drug programs.

Lewis Pollis was hired to a full-time position as analyst, baseball research and development after spending the 2016 season as an analytics intern in the Phillies baseball operations department.  Prior to joining the Phillies, Pollis, 23, interned in the baseball operations departments of the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians."