Nationals announce front office promotions

In the wake of former assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel Roy Clark leaving the Nationals to join the Dodgers, the Nats announced a host of front office promotions today, highlighted by Doug Harris and Kris Kline both being named assistant general managers. Harris, who has spent the last four seasons overseeing the Nats' farm system, will now have the official title of assistant general manager and vice president of player development. Harris was a fourth-round pick of the Royals back in the 1990 amateur draft, and played seven professional seasons for the Royals, Orioles and Marlins organizations. Before joining the Nationals in 2009, Harris held front office jobs with the Indians and Rangers. Kline's new title will be assistant general manager and vice president of scouting operations. A scout for over 20 years, Kline begins his fifth season as the head of Washington's amateur scouting efforts. He joined the organization in the fall of 2006 and spent his first three seasons in Washington as a special assignment scout, then as the western crosschecker. Kline earned a World Series ring in 2001 working in the Diamondbacks' front office. The Nats also announced promotions in other areas of their front office. Mark Scialabba has been named the organization's new director of player development, Mark Baca has been promoted to national supervisor, Jeff Zona becomes a special assistant to the general manager and Fred Costello has been named a national crosschecker. Scialabba has served as director of minor league operations since October of 2009. The Nats say that he will continue to work in conjunction with Harris on all aspects of Washington's player development operation, including contracts, roster management, budgets and player personnel decisions. Baca has been with the Nats since 2008, serving as an area scout covering Southern California. He covered that same region as an area scout for Arizona (2001-07), with whom he also earned a World Series ring in 2001. Prior to his stint with the Diamondbacks, Baca worked for Montreal (1995-2000) and Cleveland (1993-95). Zona is in his seventh season with the Nats after joining the amateur scouting staff as the eastern crosschecker in September of 2006. He spent the 2008 and 2009 campaigns as a major league scout and became the national crosschecker following the 2009 season. Zona previously spent 16 years with the Red Sox, and earned a World Series ring with them in 2004. Costello joined the Nationals in December of 2010 as an area scout, covering the Northwest region of the US. Prior to joining the Nats, he worked as an area scout for the Dodgers from 2008-2010 and Arizona from 2000-2007.