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DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers have hired Chicago Cubs coach Alex Smith to an executive position in the front office. Smith, who served as the Cubs’ Major League strategy coach, had been with the organization since 2015 and part of the on-field staff since 2023. He will hold the title of vice president of baseball strategy with the Tigers. The Athletic first reported the move this week. Scott Harris, the Tigers’ president of baseball operations, worked in the Cubs’ front office from 2012 to 2019. Since joining Detroit, he has brought over several other Cubs alumni, including general manager Jeff Greenberg and director of player development Shane Farrell. Longtime Tigers executive Jay Sartori left the organization earlier this month to join the Atlantic Coast Conference as vice president of sport technology and innovation. Sartori had served as Detroit’s vice president and assistant general manager for operations and strategy. In other news, Tigers hitting coach Keith Beauregard, who joined the staff after the 2022 season, will not return in 2026, as first reported by the Detroit Free Press. Beauregard had been one of three hitting coaches on A.J. Hinch’s staff, along with Michael Brdar and Lance Zawadzki. Beauregard, 42, spent four seasons in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization before joining Detroit. He worked as a minor-league hitting instructor from 2019-20 and as assistant field coordinator from 2021-22. Before that, he was an assistant coach at Santa Clara University and the University of Massachusetts Lowell. It’s the second departure from Hinch’s 2025 staff; first base coach Anthony Iapoce will also not return. The Tigers have not yet confirmed any coaching changes. Hinch, who agreed to a second contract extension this season, is entering his sixth year as the Tigers’ manager.
