Who is Sarah Gelles? Everything you need to know about Pirates' new Assistant GM joining from the Astros

According to Eno Sarris and Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic, the Pittsburgh Pirates are hiring Sarah Gelles as the club's new Assistant General Manager. This marks a major move in Gelles' career, which has spanned more than a decade in various front-office positions in the MLB.

"The #Pirates are hiring Sarah Gelles of the Astros to be the team’s assistant general manager. A Pirates intern in 2009, she worked her way up to Director, Research & Development in Houston, winning ‘22 WS. The Athletic recently named her the top rising star in MLB management." - @JRown32

Although the Pittsburgh Pirates have yet to make an official announcement, it's been reported that Sarah Gelles will be the Assistant General Manager alongside current General Manager Ben Cherington. It's a brilliant hiring for the Pirates, as Gelles is one of the rising young front-office talents in the MLB.

As per Sarris, this is a bit of a homecoming for Gelles, who actually began her MLB career with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an intern back in 2009. Now, nearly 15 years later, she is set to return to the club where it all started.

A graduate of Amherst College, Gelles completed her internship with the Pittsburgh Pirates before serving as a Labor Relations Department Intern for the MLB. From there, she joined the Baltimore Orioles.

"Final Panel #SABRanalytics: Baseball Ops w/ Sarah Gelles @Orioles, Yeshayah Goldfarb @SFGiants & Nick Ennis @Padres" - @JustGelz

After beginning as a Baseball Operations Intern in 2011, the Philadelphia native worked her way up through the Baltimore Orioles organization, eventually becoming the Director of Analytics and Major League Contracts for the club in 2016.

---

Sarah Gelles helped the Houston Astros analytics department become one of the best in the MLB

Following her time with the Baltimore Orioles, Gelles joined the Houston Astros as the Program Manager for the Research and Development team. She eventually earned a promotion to the role of Director. During her tenure with the Astros, the team's use of analytics helped them become one of the most dangerous sides in the MLB, winning the World Series in 2022.

"At 34, Sarah Gelles is one of the highest-ranking women in baseball operations. Her job is to use numbers to give the Astros an edge, but she grew up in Philly. @newskag reports." - @PhillyInquirer

She will now look to bring that championship experience to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It will be unsurprising if Gelles' addition to the front office helps the Bucs return to postseason relevance sooner rather than later.