The Chicago Cubs announced a series of promotions and hirings to their baseball operations department.

The transactions occur about three months after the departure of former director of pro scouting Jared Porter, who is now senior vice president and assistant general manager with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Kyle Evans takes over Porter's position while retaining his title as a special assistant to the president and general manager. Evans worked for the Boston Red Sox from 2006 to 2011 with President Theo Epstein and is regarded as a keen evaluator.

• Alex Suarez was promoted to director of international pro scouting; assistant director of player development and international amateur scouting.  Suarez previously served as an assistant director of player development and international scouting.
• Jason Parks was promoted to special assistant to the president and GM. Parks joined the organization in 2014 from Baseball Prospectus and served as a professional and amateur scout.
• Other promotions involved Andrew Bassett (assistant director of pro scouting), Min Sung (Pacific Rim scouting supervisor/special assignment pro scout), Jason Cooper (special assignment scout) and Jake Ciarrachi (major league scout). 
• The Cubs also hired Joe Nelson as a major league scout and Nic Jackson as a pro scout. Nelson, who pitched for Cubs manager Joe Maddon with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009, last served as a pro scout with the Seattle Mariners and was a teammate of Milwaukee Bucks coach and former NBA All-Star guard Jason Kidd at St. Joseph High School in Alameda, Calif.
• In the amateur scouting department, Shane Farrell was promoted to an upper Midwest area scout and Ella Cahill as an amateur scouting assistant.
• Former Cubs catcher John Baker was promoted as a coordinator in the mental skills department.
• In the front office, Greg Davey (baseball operations coordinator), Albert Lyu (research and development developer) and Garrett Chiado (research and development assistant) received promotions.
• Jacob Eisenberg was hired as an assistant in the research and development department, and John Pedrotty joins the Cubs as a trainee in the baseball operations department.

Coming off the World Series win, the Cubs have only a few key roster spots to fill.

But a second consecutive lengthy postseason combined with a longer spring training will necessitate that several seasoned veterans to be brought along slower than usual. That policy worked well last spring as starters Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester and John Lackey helped the rotation compile 989 regular-season innings — the most in the major leagues. The addition of Jon Jay will give manager Joe Maddon plenty of lineup and outfield combinations.

Here are the locks, the good bets and the long shots.

(Mark Gonzales)

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