Trio promoted on baseball operations staff

The Astros announced a trio of promotions within its baseball operations staff on Friday, including naming Kevin Goldstein the club's director of professional scouting.

Houston also named Pete Putila the coordinator of baseball operations, while Stephanie Wilka will assume the role of specialist of international operations and associate counsel.

Goldstein joined the Astros in August 2012 as a professional scouting coordinator after previously having showcased his scouting knowledge as a national writer on multiple platforms. In his current role, Goldstein oversees all of the club's professional scouting, including comprehensive scouting of Major League and Minor League players for all 30 big league teams, as well as independent league and professional foreign teams.

Putila, meanwhile, will play a key role for the Astros in monitoring the new in-game video replay system. Originally joining the organization as an intern in January 2011, Putila will also continue to provide support to both Houston's Major League and Minor League staffs and assist in the advanced scouting process.

As for Wilka, who started with the Astros in January 2012, she will continue to work alongside the club's general counsel, Giles Kibbe, on all legal issues relating to both baseball and business operations. In her new position, Wilka will also pitch in on the team's day-to-day international operations activities.