Blue Jays hiring Cleveland Indians executive Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller joins the Blue Jays from Cleveland after playing a central role in the Indians’ construction of a new spring training facility in Arizona

Tuesday brought some unexpected Blue Jays news with the resignation (originally reported as a dismissal) of vice president of business operations Stephen Brooks.

Prior to Tuesday night’s opening game against the New York Yankees, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reported that the Blue Jays would be hiring Andrew Miller to fill the role, who currently is listed as the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Analytics with the Cleveland Indians.

Miller worked directly with Shapiro in Cleveland after being appointed to this most recent role in 2013.

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“In this new position, Miller will lead strategic planning,” read the 2013 press release, “research and analysis in all areas related to business operations. In addition, Miller will continue to advise the Baseball Operations department on negotiations and strategic issues.  He will continue to report directly to Indians President Mark Shapiro, to whom he’s reported for the past two years in the position of Assistant to the President.”

Since joining the Indians in 2006, Miller had been “involved in every aspect of the Club’s Major League team operations, focusing on financial, contractual and strategic elements of player acquisitions and negotiations.”

Most relevant to the Toronto Blue Jays, however, is the fact that Miller was heavily involved in the Cleveland Indians “development, construction and operations of the Club’s Goodyear Player Development Complex in Arizona.”

With the Blue Jays contract in Dunedin set to expire at the end of 2017, the organization is facing a difficult decision on whether to renovate their existing infrastructure, or look for an entirely new home after four decades in the small Florida market.

Prior to joining the Indians, Miller spent nearly seven years working in investment banking and venture capital. As a collegiate athlete, he pitched for UC Berkeley for four years.