Changes made to scouting department (with quote)

The Orioles have brought in a new executive vice president and scouting director. It was logical to assume that more changes were coming to various departments. Dan Duquette has made a few hires and done some restructuring, and it continued yesterday. Confirming this report from FOX Sports, Duquette has reassigned pro scouts Todd Frohwirth, Jim Howard, James Keller, Ted Lekas, Lee MacPhail IV and Jim Thrift to the amateur side. Dave Engle and Bruce Kison will remain in their current positions as major league scouts. The Orioles are committed to developing their own players and want to increase the number of scouts on the amateur side. That's one explanation. Also, Duquette was hired late and inherited scouts already under contract for 2012. New scouting director Gary Rajsich is going to want to build his own staff, so you can expect more changes to come after next season. In the meantime, the Orioles will rely more on video and statistical analysis while evaluating players on other teams. "This is a more efficient way to structure Oriole recruiting and will strengthen our capability to identify and develop talent for our major league team," Duquette said. A potential issue here, of course, is having scouts reassigned late and feeling as though they've been demoted. They can choose to leave, but it won't be easy finding another job in the middle of December. Is anyone really surprised that Duquette is shaking things up after being hired? Wasn't that pretty much the idea? Changes figured to come. And more are on the way.