Philadelphia Phillies hire Johnny Almaraz as amateur scouting director

Sep 13, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Domonic Brown (9) and center fielder Ben Revere (2) walks off the field after win against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies defeated the Marlins, 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Marti Wolever, who is now out of a job after being let go as the assistant general manager of amateur scouting for the Philadelphia Phillies organization, has been replaced.

It did not take long for the Phillies to find a replacement for Wolever who was let go at the end of the 2014 season.  Wolever’s replacement is Johnny Almaraz who previously served as the Atlanta Braves’ international scouting director since 2008.  With the Braves, Almaraz signed several names familiar to the Phillies such as Julio Teheran and Christian Bethancourt.

Alamarz’s first job with the Braves came in 2006 as their director of Latin America operations.

Clearly Almaraz has been evaluating talent for some time, but he’s also done it as a scout with the Cincinnati Reds.  For 16 years he scouted for Cincinnati and signed the Reds’ current ace Johnny Cueto as well as veteran slugger Adam Dunn.

“We couldn’t be happier to add someone of Johnny’s caliber to our baseball operations staff,” Phillies assistant general manager Benny Looper told MLB’s official website.  “He has established a reputation for being able to identify future Major League talent and brings a great deal of experience to the Phillies.”

Running the Philadelphia Phillies’ First-Year Player Draft will be a major responsibility for Almaraz in his new role.  Wolever had been in charge of the draft for Philadelphia since 2002.