Dodgers hire Gabe Kapler as farm director, Billy Gasparino as scouting director

Those hires just keep coming for the Dodgers, some bolder than others.

The Dodgers announced two more front office additions Friday, adding former player Gabe Kapler as the new farm director and Billy Gasparino as the new scouting director.

Kapler spent 12 years in the majors, one as a minor league manager for the Red Sox and most recently was a baseball analyst for Fox Sports. He spent 2011 in the Dodgers’ camp but failed to make the team.

What he has never done, however, is work in a baseball front office. He’s making a pretty dramatic jump, so new president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is nothing if not bold.

Kapler played the final two years of his career for Friedman with the Tampa Bay Rays. He’s bright and – surprise – has embraced sabermetrics, but has never been a part of a front office department, let alone run one.

He is a local product, having played at Taft High School and Cal State Fullerton. His official new title is director of player development, replacing De Jon Watson, who left the Dodgers to join the Diamondbacks as a senior vice president.

Gasparino replaces Logan White as the team’s director of amateur scouting, having spent the last two years as the Padres’ scouting director. White left to join the Padres.

Like Friedman, Gasparino has a background in financing. He spent two years as a stockbroker. Guess they can talk about something besides baseball.

And like most all of Friedman’s recent hires, Gasparino (37) and Kapler (39) are young. Gasparino, a former infielder, played one season of minor league ball for the Rockies after playing at Oklahoma State.