The Toronto Blue Jays are hiring Shane Farrell as their amateur scouting director, according to baseball writer Robert Murray.
Farrell, the son of former Blue Jays manager John Farrell, had been a scout with the Chicago Cubs, assigned as a cross-checker on the west coast. He was also a 46th-round draft pick by Toronto in 2011 as a pitcher coming out of Marshall University, though he never played professionally.
Toronto needed a new amateur scouting director after the incumbent, Steve Sanders, left to be the assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this month. Sanders joined the front office of Pirates GM Ben Cherington, who had previously been the Blue Jays’ vice president of baseball operations.
After posting a 67-95 record in 2019, the Blue Jays are set to pick fifth in June’s MLB draft. It is the first time Toronto has a top-five pick since 1997, when they selected Veron Wells at fifth overall.
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