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Haze hangs over PNC Park during a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Oakland Athletics at in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, June 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
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Pirates hire Sarah Gelles from Houston Astros as new assistant general manager

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Pirates hire Sarah Gelles from Houston Astros as new assistant general manager

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is seemingly strengthening the circle around him, as the club is in the process of hiring Sarah Gelles as an assistant GM, sources confirmed to the Post-Gazette on Thursday.

Gelles had been working since 2019 as the Houston Astros’ director of baseball research and development, where the Philadelphia native and Amherst College graduate has been responsible for a variety of tasks.

The Astros are considered one of the most data-driven franchises throughout Major League Baseball. They’ve also thrived when it comes to player development, two areas where Gelles had a positive impact on the organization.

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For a recent Athletic story, Gelles was considered one of a dozen rising stars in management and coaching and actually received the most votes from rival executives and analysts who have worked with her.

Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington speaks during the Major League Baseball's general manager meetings, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Scottsdale, Ariz.
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Gelles actually interned with the Pirates in 2009 as part of her start in professional baseball. She also spent time working for the Phillies and MLB’s labor relations department before joining the Orioles as a baseball operations intern in 2011.

Gelles served as coordinator of baseball analytics in Baltimore from 2012-14, building out the club’s internal database infrastructure and overseeing the expansion of data and analytics across the entire department.

Baltimore promoted Gelles to a director role after the 2014 season, and she eventually became the club’s director of analytics and major league contracts. Where, for the final three years of her tenure there, she handled a variety of tasks:

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• Overseeing the entire analytics department

• Leading the development of internal baseball operations systems

• Assisting then-general manager Dan Duquette with player acquisitions, negotiations and other forms of roster management.

Gelles left the Orioles to join the Astros in November 2018, and Houston promoted her in December 2019.

Pittsburgh Pirates' Joshua Palacios (54) celebrates with Bryan Reynolds (10) and starting pitcher Johan Oviedo, center, after the team's win over the Chicago Cubs in a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in Chicago.
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In Pittsburgh, Gelles will join the group around Cherington that includes assistants Steve Sanders and Kevan Graves, along with senior vice president of baseball operations Bryan Stroh.

It’s an interesting setup. Three assistants is more than the Pirates typically have had. The arrival of Gelles, combined with a better season on the field in 2024, could grease the skids toward another restructuring.

Sanders and Graves play sizable roles and are also highly regarded. Could one of them take over if Cherington winds up with a fancier title, perhaps president of baseball operations? Perhaps. A winning season would also increase the chances that one is poached.

Regardless, the Pirates made a smart hire here with Gelles. They’re clearly leaning into analytics and a data-driven way of doing things — they have been for years, actually — and there’s certainly nothing wrong with hiring someone so popular among her peers.

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

First Published: November 30, 2023, 7:02 p.m.
Updated: December 1, 2023, 10:45 a.m.

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