In a move that really can't be described as terribly surprising, director of player development and personal favorite front office employee Buddy Bell was promoted to assistant GM this morning. Since 2009, Bell has served as the director of player development after serving one season as the director of minor league development.
You might remember Bell from his stints as a major league manager. Or from his multiple interviews with us, one of which involved him vehemently denying that he had any interest in managing again.
This is a rather nifty promotion (nifty? really?), as Robin Ventura spent half a season working under Bell as a special advisor. After watching the emotional roller coaster that was the relationship between the coaching staff and the front office towards the end of the Williams-Guillen era, it's pretty nice having everyone rowing in the same direction for once. I'm all for this new brain trust.
Edit: Jack asked me who I thought would fill Bell's vacancy. If I had to guess, I would say Doug Laumann or Marco Paddy.