SEATTLE – Another front-office addition is expected soon for the Toronto Blue Jays as their search for a new amateur scouting director moves into its final stages.
“We started with a list of 10 candidates, we’ve got it down to six, we’ve interviewed six to date, and we’ll probably finalize it to three and could have a decision within a week,” general manager Ross Atkins said during a conversation with reporters in Seattle.
The Blue Jays fired former amateur scouting director Brian Parker in August. The candidates so far remain unconfirmed, but possible candidates suggested by multiple industry sources include Oakland Athletics assistant scouting director Michael Holmes, Atkins’ college teammate at Wake Forest; New York Mets assistant scouting director Marc Tramuta, a former Blue Jays national crosschecker; Pittsburgh Pirates assistant scouting director Mike Mangan, another former Blue Jays crosschecker; MLB Scouting Bureau crosschecker Tom Burns, a former Blue Jays scout; and Cleveland Indians assistant scouting director Scott Barnsby.
Last week, the Blue Jays hired former Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington as vice president of baseball operations. He and Atkins went to an MLB rookie career development program together in 2000 and have maintained a friendship since.
“We’ve been talking to him for a long time,” said Atkins. “A lot of our relationship has been based on player development, we share a lot of the same thoughts and visions for how to make a difference in player development. One of the things I’ve learned this year is how demanding being with a major-league team and trying to help the major-league staff help our major-league players is, and the time I don’t have to spend thinking about Vladimir Guerrero and thinking about Conner Greene. Now Ben Cherington will be taking on a lot of that, his emphasis is going to be on player development.
“Having said that he’s going to help me in every single facet of baseball operations. His experiences as a GM with a lot of emphasis and passion for amateur scouting, I’ve already touched on player development, a keen understanding of free agency negotiations, the trade market, having been in the market he was in and developed is a huge asset to us.”
Here are some other highlights from Atkins’ conversation with media:
On the overwhelming presence of Blue Jays fans in Seattle: “Listen, I’m young in my major-league career but I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s remarkable. It says a lot about the opportunity we have as an organization, and have had for a long time. Just building upon that market and doing everything we can to bring a championship to this country, to the city of Toronto and to this organization, it’s invigorating and provides even more motivation for our organization.”
On the value of having a veteran team: “From the start of the season, a lot of people have talked about youth versus experience. There are benefits and limitations to both of those. I will tell you that when you get into the playoffs after a season of 162, I’ll take experience. Now, getting in is the hard part and that’s where youth is powerful because of recovery, because of resiliency but the mental resiliency of experience is what we’re seeing right now. After a very tough stretch, for these guys to come in and play as well as they did, it gives you a lot of confidence and faith that that will continue.”
On the club’s off-season plans: “We have started our planning for understanding what our team will look like next year. And when we get to the end of that, which will be roughly a month from now, we’ll have a much clearer picture where to prioritize free agents who are here and free agents who are elsewhere.”
On the futures of pending free agent sluggers Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista: “We don’t have control over that. Edwin and Jose have a lot of say. So it’s hard to tell you the likelihood [they remain in Toronto] but the desire and intent will be there.”
On whether there’s a definitive innings limit for Aaron Sanchez: “I know Mark [Shapiro] has said there’s a threshold we will not go past and our intention there is we have to be very thoughtful and mindful of how he’s feeling, how he’s recovering and getting to a point where we can’t let emotion take over. We will do that with Aaron and make those decisions first and foremost what’s best for the organization while incorporating his future.”
On J.A. Happ winning 20 games: “It’s awesome, especially that it happened here that he played here. Incredible to see what he’s done, what he’s meant to this team and it really is a testament to his work, his maturity as a pitcher, who he’s become relative to his starting point, he’s one of the elite pitchers in the game now. Really. Unbelievable accomplishment.”
On the play of Russell Martin: “I can’t say enough about Russ. He’s as tough, as intense of a competitor as I’ve ever been around. He’s obviously around some good ones in Tulo [Troy Tulowitzki], Bautista, Edwin, JD [Josh Donaldson], J.A. Happ, Sanchez, [Marcus] Stroman, these guys are remarkable at what they do. But Russ, there’s a reason why the teams have that he’s been on, he’s been a big part of that.”
On the progress of OF prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: “The thing about young players is that their learning curves are so steep that sometimes they have very different timelines. He has expedited things so he could be the player that moves relatively quickly. We will try to discipline ourselves to slow things down for him to ensure he has the best possible foundation, but he could be a guy who moves quicker, not because of talent, but because of discipline and work ethic.”
