The Milwaukee Brewers have hired Ray Montgomery as vice president of amateur scouting and special assistant to the general manager, the club announced Monday morning.
Montgomery replaces the late Bruce Seid, who died unexpectedly on Sept. 2. The 45-year-old is returning for his second stint in the Brewers organization after serving the past four seasons as the director of scouting with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"Ray brings experience, critical leadership and the courage and confidence to make tough decisions," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. "I have confidence that with his recent experience as a director, he will sustain the organization's success of drafting and development in a highly competitive scouting environment."
A 13th-round draft pick of the Houston Astros in 1990, Montgomery played professionally from 1990 to 2001. Montgomery played 47 games in the big leagues with the Astros over parts of three seasons (1996-98), hitting .241 in 96 plate appearances.
Montgomery joined the Brewers organization in December 2002 as an area scout for southern Texas and Louisiana. He was promoted to the organization's Midwest crosschecker from 2007 and then to assistant director of amateur scouting in 2009.
After eight years with the Brewers, Montgomery was hired as Arizona's scouting director in October 2010. Montgomery produced four big-league players (Trevor Bauer, Andrew Chafin, Evan Marshall, Jake Lamb) in his first two drafts with the Diamondbacks, while three of Arizona's top prospects were also drafted by Montgomery.
Montgomery interviewed for general manager jobs in Arizona and San Diego this offseason. According to the Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks had planned on increasing Montgomery's role within the organization in the near future.
The Brewers had a vacancy at the top of their amateur scouting department when Seid died unexpectedly at 53 while visiting family in Las Vegas.
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