Rays' Gerry Hunsicker leaves for Dodgers front office

When Gerry Hunsicker joined the Rays' new front office team in November 2005, he expected to stay three years to help them get restructured and headed in the right direction by providing experience and advice.

Three turned into five and then seven as senior vice president, and included a run of success he will "forever cherish."

But as much as he liked his stay, Hunsicker said Thursday, "I felt … that it was time to look for another challenge."

So when old friend Stan Kasten, the Dodgers president, called 10 days ago asking him to join his new ownership group and "help restore the Dodgers to the pre-eminent organization in baseball," Hunsicker decided to take the job.

The Dodgers say Hunsicker, a former GM with the Astros, will be involved in all aspects of their baseball operations as a senior adviser, including international scouting and development, pro scouting and minor-league development.

The Rays say they will miss him. "I am extremely grateful for all he has done for me and the Rays organization," executive vice president Andrew Friedman said in a statement. "He has been instrumental in the growth and development of our department, and I am proud of the successes we have enjoyed together."

Pujols sTatus: Angels slugger Albert Pujols, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee last week, should be ready for spring training. The team called it a cleanup procedure.

Diamondbacks: Former manager Bob Brenly will rejoin the team as a TV analyst. The team also hired ESPN's Steve Berthiaume for play-by-play.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.