Peter Woodfork Leaves Arizona Diamondbacks Front Office

The Arizona Diamondbacks have announced yet another change to their front office. Assistant General Manager Peter Woodfork will be leaving the Arizona Diamondbacks to “pursue other opportunities.”

The announcement comes just two days after the Diamondbacks relieved scouting director Tom Allison of his duties. The departure of Woodfork was expected when Kevin Towers was named General Manager.

Woodfork came to the Diamondbacks with Josh Byrnes in 2005. Prior to the job in Arizona, Woodfork worked for the Boston Red Sox. His tenure in Arizona lasted longer than many anticipated.

Woodfork had been identified as one of the young movers and shakers in Baseball and he was widely regarded as the heir apparent to Byrnes. Like Byrnes, Woodfork is a Moneyball disciple.

His evaluation skills are based significantly on statistical analysis as opposed to the more traditional scouting disciplines Towers is expected to utilize.

Woodfork had been a hot commodity in the past two years. His name was rumored to be attached to several General Manager searches including the Seattle Mariners job. He leaves the Diamondbacks without another job.

In the statements given by the team the change was mutually agreed upon. This is the politically correct way of saying there were philosophical differences of opinion and that Towers is not really interested in statistical analysis or the strengths that Woodfork could bring to the table.

Given his background and his age, don’t expect Woodfork to be unemployed for very long. Several teams will come knocking at his door asking him to join their staff to analyze the data collected on each player.

Logical landing spots for Woodfork would include returning to the Red Sox, the San Diego Padres, possibly the Los Angeles Dodgers, or perhaps being included as a candidate for the vacant New York Mets General Manager job or part of the incoming staff.