Pirates Announce New Leadershp And Staff Updates To Baseball Operations Department

The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced the team has hired Max Kwan as the organization¡¯s new Vice President, International Scouting, Mike Voltmer as the organization¡¯s new Vice President, Pro Evaluation and Strategy, and Kevin Tenenbaum as the team¡¯s new Vice President, Research and Development.

Michael Chernow has been promoted as the organization¡¯s new Director, Coaching & Player Development. Jeremy Bleich has been promoted to being the organization¡¯s Director, Pitching Development. Trey Rose has been promoted to Director, Baseball Operations. Dr. Hector Morales has been promoted to Senior Director, International Development and Minor League Applied Mental Performance. Todd Tomczyk has been promoted to Senior Director, Sports Medicine.

In addition, John Baker has been promoted to Vice President, Performance, after spending the previous four years as the organization¡¯s Director, Coaching and Player Development. The announcements were made by Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington.

Kwan is in his second stint as a member of the Pirates after originally being hired by Pittsburgh in 2014 as an area supervisor. During his time as the organization¡¯s Assistant Director, International Scouting from 2018-20, Kwan played an instrumental role in signing players from Asia (Ji Hwan Bae, Tsung-Che Cheng and Jun-Seok Shim), Africa (David Matoma), San Marino (Alessandro Ercolani) and Australia (Brandan Bidois).

Voltmer spent the last eight-plus years as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization prior to joining the Pirates. In his most recent role with Los Angeles, Voltmer served as the organization¡¯s Director, Baseball Strategy and Information for three-plus years. He began his association with the Dodgers in 2016 as an Analyst, Research and Development.

Voltmer graduated cum laude from the University of Louisville in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics while also minoring in Computer Information Systems and Sport Administration. He also received a Master of Science degree in Data Science from the University of Virginia in 2016.

Tenenbaum spent the previous seven years with Cleveland before joining the Pirates. He began his tenure with Cleveland as Assistant Director, Baseball Research and Development, before being named the organization's Vice President, Baseball Research and Development last January.

Tenenbaum received a bachelor¡¯s degree in mathematical sciences from Middlebury (VT) College. He broke into the big leagues with the Orioles organization, where he was an Analyst, Baseball Analytics from 2015-17.

Baker spent the previous four seasons as the Pirates Director of Coaching and Player Development. During his final year as the organization¡¯s Director of Coaching and Player Development, Pittsburgh¡¯s minor league system boasted five of the top 100 prospects in the game according to MLB Pipeline. That was tied for the third-most number of top 100 prospects among all organizations.

Chernow will oversee a Pirates minor league system that currently features four of MLB Pipeline¡¯s top 100 prospects, including right-handed pitcher Bubba Chandler at No. 15 overall. Prior to being promoted to his new position, Chernow served the organization as the Assistant Director, Coaching and Player Development. The 2025 season will mark Chernow's ninth as a member with the Pirates after joining the organization prior to the 2017 campaign.

Bleich will oversee organizational pitching skill development, working closely with pitching leadership at all levels to define vision and primary philosophies, refine skill development processes, lead coach development, and drive continuous innovation. Bleich enters his sixth season with the organization. He spent 2024 as the organization¡¯s Assistant Director, Pitching, after spending his first four years on the Major League coaching staff.

Rose will begin his ninth season with the Pirates organization. Prior to being promoted to his new position, he served as the organization's Assistant Director, Baseball Operations for three seasons. Rose joined the Pirates in 2017 as a Fellow in the baseball operations department and served in both Assistant and Coordinator roles between 2017 and 2021.

Please see the attached document for additional staffing updates in the baseball operations department.