Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic has reported that Allard Baird of the Boston Red Sox has joined the Mets front office. Baird was once the General Manager of the Kansas City Royals. After his tenure there, he was hired by Theo Epstein in Boston. Baird, 57, was named the Executive of the Year in 2003.
According to the University of Southern Arkansas page, he is credited for “being a major key to the Red Sox’s success over the past several seasons…As VP of player personnel, he’s the man largely in charge of finding players…He and his team of nine scouts saw to it that holes would be plugged with players who gave surprisingly significant contributions, and…Baird has the ability to turn rocks into diamonds in the rough.”
Under his watch, the Red Sox added several high-end talents through the draft, including 2018 MVP, Mookie Betts.
Baird was a candidate for the Mets GM position in 2010, a job that went to Sandy Alderson.
As per Rosenthal, his official title is Vice President/Assistant GM of Scouting and Player Development. He was the Vice President of Player Personnel as a Red Sox official. The Mets current director of Player Development is Ian Levin. He will likely oversee a Scouting Department led by Tommy Tanous.
