Scouting, which had been a strength of the Blue Jays organization in the 1980s and early '90s, has been in decline over the past decade.
But that changed recently under the direction of Paul Beeston, the club's interim president and chief executive officer. Beeston, who along with former general manager Pat Gillick stressed scouting when the club was winning pennants and World Series, recently added four full-time scouts to the organization. Joining the Blue Jays are Perry Minasian, a former advance scout with the Texas Rangers; Steve Springer, formerly with the Arizona Diamondbacks; Rob Fontaine, former scouting director of the Seattle Mariners; and Rick Ingalls, who also worked for the Mariners.
"We've made some changes and we're judiciously watching our money," Beeston said of the hirings. "But it doesn't mean we're going out of business. Our product is baseball."
Before the hirings, the Blue Jays had reduced their number of full-time advance scouts to six.
The Blue Jays also will be beating the bushes for talent in Japan.
"We're going to really try to make inroads in Japan," general manager J.P. Ricciardi said. "Now we've got the OK to go ahead with that. We're going to go over and at least try to make contacts."
It marks a return to the basics and a look forward under the direction of Beeston.
