Jay Sartori was hired by the Detroit Tigers organization in 2015 and spent 10 years there, the last four as vice president and assistant general manager. He left last fall for the Atlantic Coast Conference, which named him vice president for sport technology and innovation in October 2025.

The news broke Friday, when Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reported, “Former Tigers assistant general manager Jay Sartori is returning to the organization as vice president for baseball operations, according to multiple team and league sources who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.”

Sartori coming back as vice president of baseball operations is a real move for a front office that has been quiet since a deadline sell-off that sent Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Casey Mize to the San Diego Padres. How big of a deal is it?

Jay Sartori returning to Tigers could have implications for Scott Harris

Scott Harris is currently listed as the president of baseball operations for the Tigers. Was Sartori hired to be Harris’ right-hand man in the front office, or was he hired because Harris could be on the hot seat? If it is the former, it could also mean the Tigers are heading toward a youth movement in the offseason.