The Rays promoted Kevin Ibach to assistant general manager and vice president of baseball operations, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He had previously held the title of vice president of player personnel.
Ibach, 45, is entering his 12th season with the organization. A La Salle product and former college player, Ibach never played professionally. After college, he worked in the Miami and Baltimore organizations. He moved to the Rays after the 2012 campaign.
Initially hired as a pro scout, he has quickly ascended the ladder in the club’s scouting department. Within four years, he’d been tabbed as director of pro scouting. He eventually took on the title of director of pro personnel before getting the bump to player personnel vice president last offseason.
One year later, he becomes the fourth member of the Tampa Bay organization to get the AGM title. Ibach joins Will Cousins, Chanda Lowdermilk and Carlos Rodriguez as assistant GMs working underneath president of baseball operations Erik Neander. The Rays lost their #2 front office staffer, GM Peter Bendix, when he was hired as baseball ops president with the Marlins in early November. Tampa Bay hasn’t filled the GM vacancy, instead distributing Bendix’s former responsibilities among their collection of AGMs.