D-backs name Bryan Minniti Assistant General Manager; Mike Russell Special Assistant and Coordinator of Pro Scouting

Minniti joins the organization after serving the last five seasons as the Assistant General Manager with the Washington Nationals. In his role with the Nationals, he assisted General Manager Mike Rizzo in all aspects of the Baseball Operations department, including rules compliance, transactions, budgeting and contract negotiations.

Prior to his post with Washington, Minniti spent nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates in various Baseball Operations positions, including his last two as Director of Baseball Operations. Minniti earned a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002.

Russell, who was inducted into the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame in 2013, comes to Arizona after working on the Detroit Tigers Major League scouting staff since 2002. His primary role with the Tigers was scouting National League Eastern Division teams and players, which aided in the acquisition of Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins in 2007.

Russell began his professional career as an area supervisor with the San Francisco Giants in 1988-89. He also worked as a recruiting coordinator for the University of Tennessee in 1990, and returned to the Giants as a national cross checker from 1991-93. Russell then spent two seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays (1994-96) as an area supervisor and Latin America scout before a six-year stint, beginning in 1996, with the Florida Marlins as an area supervisor and special assignment scout.

During his Major League tenure, Russell has scouted for four World Series teams (1989 Giants, 1997 Marlins and 2006 and '12 Tigers) and signed seven Major League players, including Billy Koch, Cesar Izturis and Pat Rapp.