The Brewers announced promotions for two staff members, including naming Manny Batista the organization's Latin America scouting director.

Batista, 51, joined the Brewers in 2010 and had coverage in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. He became Milwaukee's director of Venezuelan scouting following the 2011 season after the team reassigned Fernando Arango, who has since been let go, from Latin American coordinator to director of Dominican scouting.

Prior to joining the Brewers, Batista, who began scouting in 1982, had previously served as the Latin American coordinator for the Rangers from 1998-2009 and had also worked as an area scout in Puerto Rico for Texas. Batista will be in charge of scouting and re-staffing the team's scouting staff in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.

The Brewers also announced that they have promoted Eduardo Brizuela to director of Latin America operations/scouting. Brizuela, 26, joined the Brewers in 2009 as an intern in advance scouting and has been the team's coordinator of administration. Brizuela helped the Brewers with their Dominican academy that opened in November 2011. He will take on additional scouting responsibilities and help the team's Latin American players transition to the United States.

“The promotions of Eduardo and Manny from our system and the restructuring of our scouting and operations in Latin America will serve notice that we are stepping up our involvement in Latin America,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said in a press release. “I have total confidence that with our presence at the Dominican Republic Academy in San Pedro de Macoris, the leadership of Eduardo and the multiple years of scouting experience that Manny brings, we will make strides in improving the signing of players for our system.”