Phillies hire relative of former All-Star outfielder to front office

The Phillies have hired longtime scout Dave Holliday, uncle of Matt Holliday.

The landscape of the Philadelphia Phillies front office has seen another shakeup in recent days. In addition to former general manager Matt Klentak leaving to join the Milwaukee Brewers with a year still left on his contract, the organization reportedly hired the relative of a former seven-time All-Star.

According to USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale, the Phillies have hired Dave Holliday — the uncle of retired outfielder Matt Holliday — to their professional scouting department.

The elder Holliday’s first professional position in the majors came as an area scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1990 to 1993. He then spent 19 years with Colorado Rockies, including his last five as a special assistant to the general manager. He previously served as the National League West organization’s national cross-checker/special assignment scout.

After the 2012 season, the Uniontown (PA) High School alumnus joined the Atlanta Braves as a special assistant to the general manager and major league scout — assigned to cover the American League.

Nightengale labels the Phillies scouting department move as a “shrewd hire.” Holliday joins a new-look Phillies professional scouting department headed by director Brian Barber — who joined the organization in October 2019 after working the previous nearly 20 seasons with the New York Yankees.

Holliday is not the only uncle of a famous individual in the Phillies front office. John Timberlake, Director of Florida Operations, is the uncle of pop singer and songwriter Justin Timberlake. Unlike Matt Holliday, however, Justin did not help the Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Phils in the heartbreaking 2007 and 2011 National League Division Series.

Considering Dave Holliday helped to discover many of the talents that contributed to the Braves winning the recent World Series, it can only be a good thing that he is now in the Phillies front office.