The Braves hired Pete Putila in an assistant general manger role, as initially reported by ESPN’s Jorge Castillo (X link). Putila will be focusing on operating Atlanta’s international scouting department, and he’ll join Jason Pare (whose purview is research & development) and Ben Sestanovich (player development) as the third AGM under president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos.
Putila spent the previous two seasons as the Giants’ GM, working as the chief lieutenant in the baseball ops department under PBO Farhan Zaidi. However, Zaidi was fired at season’s end, and new president of baseball operations Buster Posey announced that Putila would be replaced as general manager and given a new role in the organization. It perhaps isn’t surprising that Putila was looking for a fresh start himself in the wake of the Giants’ front office overhaul, thus leading to this new role in Atlanta.
Beginning his baseball career as an intern in Houston’s front office in 2011, Putila spent 12 seasons with the Astros, rising up the ranks to an eventual assistant GM title in 2019. Even after the Astros shook up their front office in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal, Putila remained in his role under new general manager James Click, and stayed in Houston until the Giants came calling in October 2022. It wasn’t the first time Putila had drawn interest from other teams, as the Pirates and the Giants themselves had previously considered Putila as a candidate for past front office vacancies.