Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Joe

Garagiola Jr. resigned Monday to become senior vice president

of baseball operations in the commissioner's office.

 

??This is an emotional day for me,'' Garagiola said. ??The

Diamondbacks franchise has meant so much to me and my family,

and I take great pride in all that we have accomplished.''

 

Garagiola joined the Diamondbacks in 1995 and helped build

the expansion team from scratch before it began play in '98.

He led Arizona to a World Series championship in 2001 and

three NL West titles, though the club went 51-111 last year,

one of the worst seasons in NL history.

 

The Diamondbacks went through an ownership reorganization

last year in an effort to turn things around. Jerry

Colangelo, the team's controlling owner since its inception,

was replaced by Ken Kendrick, and former player agent Jeff

Moorad was brought in to take a prominent role in the front

office.

 

Garagiola will start his new job on Aug. 15, overseeing

operations for the major and minor leagues, as well as

international baseball.

 

Boston Red Sox vice president of baseball operations Mike

Port and former big league player Darrell Miller also

accepted positions in the commissioner's office.

 

Port, who served as GM of the Angels from 1984-91 and

interim GM of the Red Sox in 2002, will leave Boston

immediately to begin his new job as vice president of

umpiring.

 

Miller, who played mostly catcher and outfield for the

Angels from 1984-88, was appointed director of the Major

League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif.

 

??We are delighted to bring on such eminently qualified

people as Joe, Mike and Darrell,'' commissioner Bud Selig

said. ??They bring enormous baseball experience to the table.

Their hires and the reorganization will allow us to prepare

for and handle every situation that arises in the baseball

operations area.''

 

Jimmie Lee Solomon was promoted to executive vice

president of baseball operations on June 1 to replace Sandy

Alderson, who left the commissioner's office to become chief

executive officer of the San Diego Padres. Umpires will now

report to Port instead of Alderson.

 

Bob Watson was promoted Monday to vice president of rules

and on-field operations. In addition to his duties as

baseball's chief disciplinarian, Watson will also oversee

ballpark ground rules, measurements and standards.

 

Lou Melendez was promoted to vice president of

international baseball operations and administration. He will

administer Major League Baseball's relationship with its

foreign academies in Australia, Puerto Rico and Italy.

After such a great offseason, I knew it had nothing to do with anything negative.