49ers tap Baalke as vice president for player personnel, announce changes in front office

49ers tap Baalke as vice president for personnel

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers solidified their organizational structure Thursday when they named Trent Baalke as the team’s vice president of player personnel.

Baalke was promoted from his previous position as director of player personnel, where he made a strong impression last month overseeing the team’s draft process in place of former general manager Scot McCloughan, who parted ways with the 49ers in March.

Baalke now assumes the organization’s lead role in football operations. He’ll have complete oversight of all aspects of the team’s player personnel, including free agency, trades and re-signings.

“We looked at several candidates, and my assumptions were correct that Trent was the right guy for the job,” 49ers president and CEO Jed York said from New York, where he is taking part in NFL meetings.

“He’s a great talent evaluator, he’s meticulous, he’s very organized, he’s great at putting a staff together,” York said.

Baalke also will continue to manage college scouting, a role he held in his previous position with the team.

“Nothing really changes in the context of what’s taken place for the last five or six weeks,” Baalke said. “It’s going to be a team effort here, and we’re going to work together to get this done.”

York said the 49ers would not have a new general manager in the team’s organizational structure. Baalke will take many of GM duties and work closely with York, coach Mike Singletary and vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe.

All organizational decisions ultimately will go through York.

“I will have final say on what our team looks like,” he said.

The 49ers also named Joel Patten as new director of college scouting. Former Cleveland Browns scout Bob Morris was named as the team’s South Region scout.

The 49ers also promoted Matt Malaspina to national scout and assigned additional scouting responsibilities to Tom Gamble, the team’s director of pro personnel.