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NEW YORK – The Toronto Blue Jays off-season to-do list now includes finding a new amateur scouting director as Shane Farrell is leaving the club to join the Detroit Tigers, according to two industry sources.
The sources, speaking to Sportsnet colleague Ben Nicholson-Smith and me, confirmed the news first reported by Bob Elliott of the Canadian Baseball Network, who added that Farrell will serve as farm director for the Tigers.
Farrell spent the past five years running the Blue Jays’ draft, joining the club in January 2020 to replace Steve Sanders, who left the position for a promotion to assistant GM with the Pittsburgh Pirates under Ben Cherington.
While it’s too early to fully assess the drafts he oversaw, the Blue Jays’ troubles in drafting and development in recent years have led to an organizational talent deficit, a contributing factor to a dismal 74-88 finish in 2024.
Austin Martin was selected with the fifth overall pick in Farrell’s first draft during the pandemic summer of 2020, with the Blue Jays choosing Gunnar Hoglund, Brandon Barriera, Arjun Nimmala and Trey Yesavage in the first round the following four years.
Martin was used to acquire Jose Berrios from the Minnesota Twins ahead of the 2021 trade deadline while the next spring Hoglund was the centrepiece sent to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Chapman.
Barriera and the club’s top pitching prospect – Ricky Tiedemann, a third-round pick in 2022 – are both recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery this year, while Nimmala and Yesavage are both among the Blue Jays’ best prospects.
The Blue Jays made a number of changes to their player-development staff toward the end of the season and on the major-league side, parted with hitting coach Guillermo Martinez, field co-ordinator Gil Kim and bullpen coach Jeff Ware, and are looking at a different role for assistant pitching coach Dave Howell.
