Rays executive Arnold joins Brewers

New Brewers general manager David Stearns has made his first significant addition to the front office with the hiring of Matt Arnold as vice president and assistant general manager.

Speculation around Arnold, as well as the Rays two top VP’s Chaim Bloom and Erik Neander, who share GM responsibilities under President Matt Silverman, led us to wonder if the Rays were at risk for a brain drain in the front office. The 36-year-old Arnold most recently served as Tampa’s director of player personnel.

Ash, who was offered another role with the club, is in discussions with Stearns as to what that role might be, and his future remains cloudy at this time, though he has said that he is interested in remaining with the Brewers. He was promoted to his recent position in June.

The G-M says Nichols has had a lot of good success in Milwaukee’s farm operation, but Stearns wants a person with a philosophy similar to his. “Matt has touched almost every aspect of baseball operations during his impressive career”.

“He’s going to have input and impact across the entirety of the baseball operations spectrum”, Stearns said in a conference call. There, his duties included player analysis, financial planning and arbitration, as well as involvement in advance, amateur and professional scouting.

Ash and Nichols were hired by former Brewers general manager Doug Melvin back in 2002.

Arnold, 36, had served as director of player personnel for the Tampa Bay Rays prior to joining the Brewers.

Originally from California, Arnold attended UC-Santa Barbara, where he earned a degree in economics. He was voted Wisconsin Sports Writer of Year for 2011 and 2012 by National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.