Saying Farewell

Today, the Braves made an announcement, and I happen to be part of it.

Wednesday will be my last day as Lead Prospect Analyst here at FanGraphs, as I’ve accepted the position of Assistant Director of Baseball Operations with the Atlanta Braves. The staff has been great to work for, particularly the guys who decided to take a chance on me: David Appelman and Dave Cameron. They gave me all the resources I asked for and all the support I could imagine for my sometimes odd-sounding ideas.

I think we accomplished something special in setting at least a new template for covering scouting and player development, if not a new standard. My 2016, 2017 and 2018 draft rankings will come out tomorrow, and I have one more project that will be rolling out soon. I was only able to finish about half of what I had set out to accomplish here, so I’m disappointed that I left some of my ambition on the table, but the opportunity I was given for a new challenge was too great to pass up.

In my new job, I’ll be working with arguably the best group of scouts in baseball and coming aboard under new GM John Coppolella. I’ve known Coppy for a while, dating back to when he was my boss with the Yankees for my first baseball operations job, in 2005, while I was still in college. I’m all in on his vision for running a front office and also building an organization, with his fingerprints already all over the organization. John Schuerholz and John Hart are legends and they have arguably the most impressive resumes in the game; I’m thrilled to work for them. It also seemed like the office could use a guy not named John.

I’ll be brief explaining my role, as I’ll be there to learn and contribute behind men with more experience than me. In short, I’ll be doing many of the same things I did for FanGraphs: contributing to the draft and international signings, scouting the minor leagues and doing what I can to improve the big league product, all of these from both a scouting and analytics perspective. I am grateful for everything the FanGraphs family has done for me and to you guys for reading and participating in the process. I look forward to this new challenge and will do everything I can to ensure that it includes multiple World Series titles.

Thanks to everyone for reading, and for all the feedback — positive and negative — that you’ve offered me over my time here. Keep reading FanGraphs, and start watching the Braves; I’m looking forward to what both organizations do going forward.

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Kiley McDaniel has worked as an executive and scout, most recently for the Atlanta Braves, also for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates. He's written for ESPN, Fox Sports and Baseball Prospectus. Follow him on twitter.

95 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Phillies113
10 years ago

Congratulations Kiley! Give…give em hell…(breaks down into sobs)

Daniel
10 years ago

Congratulations Kiley!

You will be missed greatly here, but best of luck in your new position!

steve
10 years ago

nice work, brother. congrats

Eric
10 years ago

Congratulations!!1

The Ghost of Dayn Perry
10 years ago

So sad. Good luck Kiley!

Or Moyal
10 years ago

You’re the best, man. Thanks for your contributions… it was great having you in the public sphere. best of luck.

zeke4auMember since 2025
10 years ago

🙁

congrats and good luck but you’ll be sorely missed

The Ghost of Dayn Perry
10 years ago
Bernie Brewer
10 years ago

I’m going to really miss you being a dick to Cistulli. 🙁

Best of luck Kiley.

Slacker George
10 years ago
Reply to  Bernie Brewer

I can imagine a sign in Kiley’s office now: “Work Safe! xx days Cistulli-free!”

Iccyh
10 years ago

Congratulations and good luck.

Hendrik
10 years ago

Grats man, I hope the new job is well paid 😉 and a lot of fun

I really liked your podcast appearances, if you’re ever bored, please consider a guest appearance 🙂

Congratulations and good luck once again!

Graves
10 years ago

Congratulations Kiley! You took the prospect Data here at FG to Superhero Status. Thanks for everything and much success in your new role with the Braves. I love you. Ok it’s getting weird. Bye.

K26dp
10 years ago

Is your name not John? That’s going to cause a bit of confusion, mind if we called you John just to keep everything straight?

Good luck. I am sad that we will no longer have the tremendous value of your analysis, but I am heartened that you will be working for my favorite team.

Slacker George
10 years ago
Reply to  K26dp

Love the Python. Keep it coming.

Andy
10 years ago

Go Braves!

IHateJoeBuck
10 years ago
Reply to  Andy

Go Barves!

teddy
10 years ago

Kiley nooooooo, you were one of my must reads with just about everything you published here. Best of luck to you fangraphs will miss your work.

Matt
10 years ago

In a good way, this was not a surprise, because you showed such a depth and range of talent in covering the game. We enjoyed it, and all the best w/ your next role

David
10 years ago

Congratulations , I wish you all the best in Atlanta.

I enjoyed all your great work here, thanks!

Tucker
10 years ago

Great news for Braves fans, welcome Kiley!

Ryan
10 years ago

Is there a German word for “simultaneously being happy for and proud of someone while in the back of your mind selfishly thinking that this sucks for me personally”?

Congrats Kiley, your contributions will be missed on these pages.

BipMember since 2016
10 years ago
Reply to  Ryan

The word is: simultaneouslybeinghappyforandproudofsomeonewhileinthebackofyourmindselfishlythinkingthatthissucksformepersonally

BenH
10 years ago
Reply to  Ryan

“Bitterschweet”

Ty
10 years ago
Reply to  BenH

Schadenfreude

tomhaywood
10 years ago

Gutted. No sure how anyone else will come close with the prospect work.

NickB
10 years ago

Yay for going to the Braves! We need you!

BOOO, for losing your contributions here, we need you!

best of luck and I will enjoy watching your career and harshly critiquing your choices in our drafts to come! :-p

Margaret Sanger
10 years ago

Always wanted to let you know, you were the only one that was correct when you sai in an article writ

I have always wanted to let you know you were correct in an article you wrote about the draft on April 14 th. You said where my grandson would be drafted. Best of luck to your new position. After following you on Twitter I feel that you will be a success.

Y

tkfyesterday
10 years ago

I’m gonna hate seeing you go, but I’m so glad to see you with the Braves! Can’t wait to see you make your mark on my favorite team!

highrent
10 years ago

Congratulations Kiley.

tz
10 years ago

Congratulations Kiley! Great for you, and even better news for us Braves fans!!

Clock
10 years ago

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

John Elway
10 years ago
Reply to  Clock

NEIIIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

leah
10 years ago

Congratulations!

Donnie Iris
10 years ago
Reply to  leah

Ah Leah!

Well-Beered Englishman
10 years ago

My reaction as a loyal FanGraphs reader:

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

My reaction as a Nationals fan:

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Congrats, but we will miss you. A lot.

jpg
10 years ago

I’m a Mets fan… so what he said.

attgig
10 years ago
Reply to  jpg

Let’s go mets!

Kiley, make sure the manager benches the best guys when you’re playing NYN….otherwise, best of luck!

Nick in Atl
10 years ago

Don’t screw the pooch. Any influence on getting Frediot fired would be appreciated, and I’ll happily buy the first round on that glorious day.

Chris
10 years ago

Thank you Kiley for your time here at Fangraphs and the in-depth coverage you provided. I can say in all honesty that I didn’t enjoy reading prospect coverage at this site until you came along. Best of luck and enjoy living the dream!

Micah Smith
10 years ago

As a Braves fan I am ecstatic about this!!! For every reason other than you have the best prospect info out there. But that is the reason I’m ecstatic. Vicious cycle, really, but what this signals for the Braves philosophy going forward is as big as them hiring a guy who embodies what I love about fangraphs analysis.

Daniel
10 years ago

Congratulations Kiley! We’ll miss you here. Best of luck with the Braves.

Philip Tapley Jr.
10 years ago

This makes me feel really good about the Braves direction, but bummed at the prospect (ha) of someone trying to fill your shoes here at fb. Could you fire fredi g first thing? Just kidding. But maybe… Congrats!

Kiley/Swimfan
10 years ago

congratulations! Your #content will be missed but your new role is well-deserved.

Owen Surett
10 years ago

Hey Kiley, I’m so happy for you! Love what you did here at FanGraphs and I know you’ll do great with the Braves. Just don’t do too well, where you give my Mets a run for their money! Good Luck!

BipMember since 2016
10 years ago

Goddammit Kiley. Doing what we all knew you were capable of doing while we were just sitting here and enjoying the unmatched effort you put into something we don’t even pay to consume but which on its own would probably be worth something akin to an ESPN subscription.

You were the prospect writer we needed, not the one we deserved.

Cool Lester Smooth
10 years ago
Reply to  Bip

Seriously.

tz
10 years ago
Reply to  Bip

Is it too late to start up a #KeepKiley kickstarter campaign?

Or even just a #GetKileyANiceGoingAwayPresent campaign?

BipMember since 2016
10 years ago
Reply to  tz

Maybe a “don’t let the door hit Kiley on the way out, it hurts and it makes his last fangraphs experience an unpleasant one, as opposed to walking out the door cleanly” campaign. It would be a real shame, that, if the door hit him on the way out.

arc
10 years ago

What a huge loss for fangraphs. Really, though, it always felt like a matter of time before someone in MLB hired Kiley.

Thanks for all the fantastic content.

Kevin
10 years ago

As a huge Braves fan I have to say… Can you start tomorrow instead?

Ryan
10 years ago

As a Fangraphs reader, I will be sad to see you go.

As a Reds fan, I will be hoping that Cincinnati doesn’t swing any prospect deals with Atlanta any time soon. Your analysis was always great, and I imagine Atlanta would come out ahead on any such such deal 🙂

Steve Perry
10 years ago

Congrats, and welcome to Braves land!

Rickifer
10 years ago

They’re under titling you. LEAD Assistant Director, Baseball Operations sounds a lot better.

Mack
10 years ago

Here’s hoping your new co-workers are more John Goodman than Matthew Lillard.

Pinstripe Wizard
10 years ago
Reply to  Mack

Seriously. That guy was a douche.

Ty
10 years ago

Congrats Kiley! I meant to ask you in chat if you could go down to Braves instructs and let us know who is top dog among Allard, Riley, Acuna, Albies, Pache, Cruz and Wilson among others. I got Riley as the #1 prospect in the Braves org right now and was hoping you would confirm. So sad not to get your update this coming year. Thrilled to have your thoughtfulness and insights with the Braves.

Cool Lester Smooth
10 years ago

Congrats, Kiley!

Losing your weekly insights terrible, terrible news for everyone who loves baseball, which I think is the best possible compliment I can give.

smiley mcfaniel
10 years ago

*reggaeton horns blare somberly*

Baron Samedi
10 years ago

Good luck, Kylie! I hope you enjoyed your personal life.

a eskpert
10 years ago

Do one final Fangraphs Audio before you leave, if you aren’t planning to already. Otherwise I will find some way of plaguing you at the Braves with all of my crappy chat questions that didn’t get answered.

tyke
10 years ago

As someone with no MLB team affiliation (don’t ask), I’m incredibly happy for you. Your work here has been tremendous, has enlightened many, and has been enjoyed by all. I trust your time in Atlanta will be fruitful, as you are obviously very good at what you do. As a reader, it will certainly take some getting used to you not being here, as you provide the best analysis and other info on prospects. Your new bosses will certainly be very happy with their hire. Thank you for everything you’ve done here over the past year-plus. Here’s to you, Kiley!

BipMember since 2016
10 years ago

A final note:

none of the comments above have been adjusted for florida. after factoring in your unfortunate upbringing and the doubtless plethora of scars it has left on your personality, the readership of fangraphs clearly considers you nothing short of the messiah of prospect analysis.

Scott
10 years ago

Your work at FG has been a real pleasure to read. It is no surprise to see you getting scooped up by an MLB org again. Best of luck and thank you for the fantastic content.

Serbian to Vietnamese to French and back
10 years ago

Je suis si triste en ce moment, je ne peux même pas faire tout le chemin du retour à l’anglais.

Bonne chance Kiley.

Greg GoldenMember since 2016
10 years ago

A+ work, friend. Godspeed.

Brett
10 years ago

You can’t leave! All the plants will die!!

Good luck(dragon). Hope you bring a title to that new stadium soon.

B

Pirates Hurdles
10 years ago

Congrats Kiley! The content you provided was absolutely outstanding and there will be no way that FG can replace you.

Pinstripe Wizard
10 years ago

This is complete and total bullshit. How dare you take an opportunity when presented and leave us here to our own devices? How are we supposed to sound educated about prospects if we have to pay other people to do a job not as well. This is going to seriously hurt my cred at the water cooler. You need to think about how your decisions affect people you’ve never met.

Oh and congrats and good luck!

Anon21
10 years ago

Congrats Kiley, and congrats Braves. This makes me more optimistic about their timeline for returning to contention.

TKDC
10 years ago

Congrats. I don’t have much to add to all the people who will miss you as a Fangraphs writer but are happy as Braves fans (or sad as fans of other teams).

Here’s hoping the next Chipper Jones falls to #3.

some guy
10 years ago

Kiley,
This is a well-deserved opportunity and I hope we get to see that announcement some day read “____ has hired Kiley McDaniel as GM”.

Your talents were always too big for the public sector. We were always on borrowed time with the amount of access we had to someone as talented as you.

Kudos to the FG leadership for allowing you to do your thing and creating something amazing.

Best wishes & much success.

Cory Settoon
10 years ago

Congrats! Hate to see you leave, but happy for you.

ImKeithHernandez
10 years ago

Sad day. I too loved reading your work. Congrats!

Mike
10 years ago

It’d be nice for the Davids to address the future of prospect writing at FanGraphs, sooner rather than later.

Good luck Kiley.

Dave CameronMember since 2018
10 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Stay tuned.

BigCoolDaddy
10 years ago
Reply to  Dave Cameron

Here’s a hint, it’s a guy who’s stopped commenting here recently to get more familiar with the few prospects worth writing about that aren’t property of the 2015 Base Runs Champion Chicago Cubs.

IsIt2015Yet?!
10 years ago
Reply to  BigCoolDaddy

I had no idea it was possible for one commenter to make a site like this insufferable but…congrats, I guess?

Andrew
10 years ago

I am a Mets fan, and also a Kiley fan. So this is awesome news. And terrible news. And I hope Kiley is as awesome for the Braves as he was for Fangraphs, but I also hope he’s not. I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO FEEL THIS CONFLICTED ABOUT BASEBALL IN THE PLAYOFFS!!!!

But in all seriousness, Kiley, you’ve done a great job here and I loved reading your work. Good luck!

Goldsteins dumb fedora
10 years ago

So happy for you man!!!!!

Joe P
10 years ago

Congrats!! Been a fan since the saberscouting.com days! Since Kevin Maitan is already signed maybe you can get the credit on 7/2.

Kevin
10 years ago

Just want to add for anyone at FG who reads this, Kiley brought a completely new dimension to this site. The prospect coverage here was a 40 FV at best, and Kiley brought it up to a 60-65. Please make sure you bring in someone who can provide a comparable level of insight on minor league and amateur players, and don’t revert to the pre-Kiley days.

Brandon
10 years ago

Wait so you’re telling me Kiley actually knew what he was talking about this whole time?

Hoff
10 years ago

While we will miss your insight and extensive prospect lists, I think all of us who read content on FG on a daily basis are ecstatic that you get to live out all of our dreams of working in a Major League front office. Based on your work here at FG, one can only assume that you will have an auspicious effect on the Atlanta Organization. Best of luck and go easy on the Phillies!

Peter R
10 years ago

Best of luck sir! I was an avid reader and listener to your work and you will sorely missed. I greatly enjoyed your take on prospect analysis and it has taught me a lot. I shall miss your weekly battle with Carson on the programme and it’s somewhat fitting the producer was still “on vacation” and couldn’t get your fancy segment intros done in time.

Best of luck and I expect to see you at any future Atlanta Fangraphs meetups.

Thanks!

Ryan J
10 years ago

As a Nats fan let me just say…uh oh.

Good luck Kiley! (But not too much)

RobM
10 years ago

1)The great thing about FanGraphs is it’s a great platform for smart people to make a name for themselves and then get hired by MLB teams.

2)The sad thing about FanGraphs is it’s a great platform for smart people to make a name for themselves and then get hired by MLB teams.

You win in scenario 1 Kiley, but we all lose in scenario 2.

Congrats, Kiley!

HIstory of Westeros
10 years ago

I’m so lucky to be a Braves fan, this is incredible news!

Para
10 years ago

lol what an opportunist. fangraphs made u what u are, it’s a shame how quickly some ppl forget things like that

mike sixel
10 years ago

Well, congrats! That’s great for you. Awful for us. I really, really, really like your work. You will be missed.

Slacker George
10 years ago

Kiley, your work pushed Fangraphs above all other sites, prospect-wise, paid or free. Thank you and good luck.

Alby
10 years ago

It especially sucks for us fans of other NL East teams. Best of luck, Kiley.

NathanLazarus
10 years ago

Everything you did here was among the smartest content on the sports web. I knew you’d have to go back to working for teams eventually, but you’ll be sorely missed.

Merv Throneberry
10 years ago

Congratulations and thanks for all your help. I’m certain that the Atlanta Braves just got a lot more dangerous….

David
10 years ago

Congratulations, Kiley! My respect for the Braves organization just increased.