LA Dodgers hire Gabe Kapler to lead Player Development

In the last 24 hours, the Los Angeles Dodgers have made multiple additions to their front office brain trust, the most recent being former 12-year Major League veteran Gabe Kapler.  Today, Dodger President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman announced that Kapler has been named Director, Player Development, and that Billy Gasparino has been hired as the team's Director, Amateur Scouting.

Kapler joins the Dodgers after most recently working as a baseball analyst for Fox Sports 1. Prior to his television career, Kapler was a big league outfielder for the Tigers (1998-99), Rangers (2000-02), Rockies (2002-03), Red Sox (2003-06), Brewers (2008), and Rays (2009-10), winning a World Series with Boston in 2004.

He briefly retired following the 2006 season and managed Boston’s Single-A affiliate, the Greenville Drive, in 2007, before resuming his playing career in 2008 and playing three more big league seasons.  Kapler appeared in a Dodger uniform as a non-roster invitee during 2011 Spring Training, but never played in a regular-season game with the club.

A local Los Angeles native, Kapler attended Taft High School in Woodland Hills before earning a scholarship to Cal State-Fullerton, where he played one season before transferring to Moorpark College.

Gasparino joins the Dodgers after four seasons with the Padres as the club’s Director of Scouting (2012-14) and National Crosschecker (2010-12). Previously, he worked for the Blue Jays, originally joining Toronto as an area scout covering Southern California from 2004-06 before being promoted to national crosschecker in 2007. He got his start in baseball as an intern with the Cleveland Indians in 2003.

An infielder during his playing career, Gasparino was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 17th round of the 1999 First-Year Player Draft out of Oklahoma State University and spent one season in their minor league system with Single-A Portland.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services