The Pirates have promoted former director of player analysis Justin Newman to director of domestic amateur scouting, multiple sources confirmed to MLB.com Thursday. Newman began working with the organization in 2017 as a baseball informatics intern, moving his way up the ladder throughout the last decade.
Assistant general manager Kevan Graves filled the role of running the amateur Draft in 2026 after the departure of Justin Horowitz to the Nationals. General manager Ben Cherington said in his end-of-year press conference that Pittsburgh would fill the role on a more permanent basis and had already begun a search with Graves at the forefront.
The search finished with an internal promotion of Newman. A 2016 graduate of the University of Rochester, Newman worked in multiple qualitative roles within the amateur scouting staff, including working from December 2022 to November 2024 as a lead quantitative analyst. During the same period, the Pirates landed franchise pillars Paul Skenes and Konnor Griffin in the '24 Draft’s first round.
The Pirates went 82-80 in Cherington’s seventh year at the helm, an 11-win improvement and the first winning season for the club since 2018. Pittsburgh has recently excelled in its early-round Draft selections, ranging from Skenes and Griffin to top right-handed pitching prospect Seth Hernandez and recent No. 5 overall pick Derek Curiel out of LSU.