Royals officially announce two front office moves under Dayton Moore

The Royals have promoted former major-league advance scout Alec Zumwalt to director of baseball operations and hired Albert Gonzalez of the Miami Marlins to serve as assistant general manager for international operations, the club announced on Tuesday.

The hiring of Gonzalez was reported by The Star earlier this month. The promotion of Zumwalt represents the latest addition to the front office in Kansas City.

Zumwalt, who joined the Royals as a pro scout in 2011, spent the last five seasons as a major-league advance scout, gathering information and reports on opponents. In his new role, he will work out of the office at Kauffman Stadium and work closely with the entire baseball operations department, general manager Dayton Moore said.

“Alec has earned the universal respect of everybody in the organization,” Moore said, “not only because of his baseball knowledge, but his ability to work with others.

Zumwalt, a North Carolina native, was a fourth-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 1999 and played in the minor leagues for 10 seasons. The Royals’ advance scouting operation gained headlines during the 2014 and 2015 postseasons, when it helped the team find weaknesses in Oakland A’s pitcher Jon Lester, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista and the New York Mets’ pitching staff.

Gonzalez, meanwhile, is returning to where his baseball career began. He originally joined the Royals in 1994 as an associate scout, hired by former scouting director Art Stewart. He became the Latin American scouting coordinator in 1998 before joining the Marlins in 2006.

In his previous job, Gonzalez spent the past 12 years running the Marlins’ Dominican Academy and scouting and player development efforts abroad. In his new role, he will work under Rene Francisco, the Royals’ vice president and assistant general manager for international operations.

The Royals’ international scouting operation was integral in their postseason success in 2014 and 2015, with players such as Salvador Perez, Kelvin Herrera and Yordano Ventura playing key roles. All three were signed under the watch of Francisco and Moore.

“I’m thrilled that Albert has accepted our invitation to return to his original organization, serving our international operation,” Moore said. “I look forward to his contributions in what is already a strong and productive area of the organization.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Royals officially announce two front office moves under Dayton Moore."