Green, Villanueva, Weeks to take on expanded roles within baseball ops

November 6th, 2023

The Milwaukee Brewers on Monday announced promotions within their Baseball Operations department. The announcements were made by Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Arnold.

The promotions include expanded duties for former Brewers players Taylor Green, Carlos Villanueva and Rickie Weeks.

“Taylor, Carlos and Rickie are longtime members of the Brewers family, and we’re thrilled to have them take on larger roles within the organization,” Arnold said. “Taylor is a top talent evaluator and will thrive in a more pronounced role in the development of the youngest Brewers players.

“Carlos is a valuable resource in the development of our pitchers across all levels, and his knowledge and experience will be an asset in his expanded duties surrounding the Major League team.

“Rickie has had a seamless transition from his playing career to the front office. We look forward to having him continue to serve as a tremendous mentor to players throughout the organization in his new role.”

The Brewers also promoted Will Hudgins, Matt Kleine and Karl Mueller to assistant general manager and Matt Klentak to executive advisor to the general manager.

“We’re fortunate to have this group of talented and experienced executives leading our Baseball Operations department,” Arnold said. “Their promotions are well-deserved and represent the impact they have had on the organization.”

Green has been promoted to special assistant of scouting and international player development. After spending 10 seasons playing in the organization from 2006-15, he has worked in scouting for the past eight seasons, including the past four as assistant director of scouting and international player development. Green joined the front office as a professional scout in 2016 and was promoted to supervisor of pro scouting in 2017.

Villanueva, who just completed his sixth season as a member of the front office, will take on a broader role as special assistant to the general manager, baseball operations and player development. He joined the Brewers as a special advisor to baseball operations and player development prior to the 2018 season and was promoted to special assistant to the general manager and player development in 2019.

The former pitcher played 16 seasons of professional baseball after signing with San Francisco in 2002, including parts of 11 campaigns in the majors. He was acquired by the Brewers from the Giants in 2004, went on to make his Major League debut with the team in 2006 and remained in Milwaukee through the 2010 season.

Villanueva also pitched in the majors with Toronto (2011-12), Chicago-NL (2013-14), St. Louis (2015) and San Diego (2016).

Weeks has been promoted to special assistant to player development after spending his first two seasons in the front office as an assistant to player development. Selected by Milwaukee in the first round of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, Weeks spent parts of 11 seasons with the Brewers (2003, 2005-14). The former second baseman also played for Seattle (2015), Arizona (2016) and Tampa Bay (2017) over his 14-year Major League career.

Hudgins has spent the past seven seasons with the Brewers, including most recently as vice president of baseball systems and high performance (2023). He joined the organization in 2016 and has also held roles as developer of baseball systems (2016-17), architect of baseball systems (2017-18), director of baseball systems (2018-21) and vice president of baseball product and strategy (2021-22).

Kleine just completed his 17th season in the Brewers organization and fourth as vice president of baseball operations. He was hired as an associate scout in 2007 and has also spent time as a baseball operations and amateur scouting intern (2009-11), baseball operations assistant (2011-13), coordinator of advance scouting and baseball contracts (2013-14), manager of baseball operations (2014-17) and director of baseball operations (2018-19).

Mueller recently concluded his 20th season with the Brewers and fifth as senior vice president of player personnel. He joined the organization as a baseball operations assistant in 2004 and has also served as coordinator/manager of advance scouting and baseball research (2005-10), director of video scouting and baseball research (2011-15), director of baseball operations (2016-17) and vice president of player personnel (2018-19).

Klentak has spent the past two seasons with the Brewers as a special assistant to the general manager following six seasons with Philadelphia as vice president and general manager (2015-20) and strategy and development officer (2021). In his expanded role, Klentak will continue to lead international scouting while also assisting Arnold at the Major League level.

Also receiving promotions on the Major League side include Dan Larrea (vice president of team travel and clubhouse operations) and Jason Shawger (director of equipment Major and Minor Leagues).

Additional promotions in International Scouting include James Armstrong (director of international scouting) and Luis Pérez (director of international player evaluation). Earning promotions within High Performance and Technology include Blair Bundy (vice president of player health and performance), Phil Hauser (director of baseball data engineering) and Nick Jensen (director of player health).