Tigers assistant general manager Sam Menzin resigned his position on Thursday, according to The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen. Menzin had been working in this role since August 2021, and he briefly served as the club’s acting front office boss during the roughly six-week period between the firing of former GM Al Avila and Scott Harris’ hiring as the new president of baseball operations.
Though Menzin is only in his mid-30’s, he had been one of the Tigers’ longest-tenured front office employees, as he started as a front office intern back in 2012. He worked his way up the ladder in a variety of different roles, with a focus on the player development department. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News notes that one of Menzin’s recent responsibilities included overseeing some upgrades to the Tigers’ Spring Training facility.
The timing of the resignation (just a week into the season) is a little unusual, and no reason was given for Menzin’s departure. Speculatively speaking, it could be that Menzin simply felt it was time for a fresh start, if there was perhaps little room for immediate future advancement within Detroit’s front office. Harris doesn’t appear to be going anywhere, and Jeff Greenberg was hired after the 2023 season in the GM role as Harris’ chief lieutenant in baseball ops. Menzin was one of four assistant GMs in the front office, along with Ryan Garko, Rob Metzler, and Jay Sartori.
