Mariners hire Tim Kissner as their director of international scouting

Baseball's new collective-bargaining agreement just made Tim Kissner's job much more difficult. But it's a job he's certainly happy to have, having been appointed the Seattle Mariners new director of international scouting, according to The Seattle Times.

With Bob Engle moving into semi-retirement, the Mariners tabbed Kissner to replace the man who was instrumental in signing Felix Hernandez. But an international scout's job isn't like it used to be. With limits on how much teams can spend on international players, Kissner is tasked with squeezing every ounce of potential from every dollar the Mariners can give him. "I'm not going to make any wholesale changes. I'd like to able to out-scout our opponents," remarked Kissner, a former scout for the Cubs and Phillies.

Kissner's first move in his new position was to fly to the Dominican Republic to assess his staff and personally scout players. He has big shoes to fill, but Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik is confident he can do it, saying in a news release "He is a nice addition to our organization, with a strong ability to evaluate and supervise, paired with a very strong work ethic."