May 12, 2023

By Rod Nelson

SABR Scout Committee

As chairman of the SABR Scouts Research Committee, it’s my pleasure to announce that Marco Paddy, Chicago White Sox vice-president of International Operations, has been chosen to be the recipient of the prestigious 2023 Roland Hemond Award.

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Scouts Research Committee established the Roland Hemond Award in 2001 to recognize the executive who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to professional scouts and scouting, and player development history.

The award is named after Roland Hemond, a longtime SABR member and three-time The Sporting News MLB Executive of the Year (1972, 1983, 1989), who helped build winning franchises with the Milwaukee Braves, Los Angeles Angels, White Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks. Hemond served as president of the Association of Professional Baseball Players of America and was recognized as “Architect of the Arizona Fall League”. He was a co-founder of the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation and served on the board of the Scout of the Year Foundation.

The SABR Scouts Committee was the first organization to name a lifetime achievement award in his honor and Hemond was subsequently crowned “King of Baseball” by Minor League Baseball at the 2001 Winter Meetings banquet. The following year, Roland became the first non-player to receive the Branch Rickey Award from the Denver Rotary Club. In 2011, the National Baseball Hall of Fame honored Hemond as the second recipient of the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Roland Hemond Award is presented annually at the SABR National Convention, which this year will be held at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel in Chicago, July 5th to July 9th. The Scouts Committee meeting will take place at 10 am Saturday, July 8 with former White Sox executive and (former Dodgers GM and current SABR board member) Dan Evans on hand to present the Hemond Award to White Sox special assistant to the general manager for international operations Marco Paddy.

MARCO PADDY

Special Assistant To The Gm, International Operations

Marco Paddy is in his 11th season in the White Sox organization as special assistant to the GM for international operations. In his position, Paddy directs the White Sox Latin American scouting efforts, with an emphasis on international signings.

At the December 2022 Winter Meetings in San Diego, Paddy was honored by the Scout of the Year Foundation. He is the ninth recipient of the International Scout of the Year award, joining Ralph Avila (2006), Epy Guerrero (2008), Fred Ferreira (2012), Pablo Cruz (2016), Sal Agostinelli (2018), Johnny DiPuglia (2019), Pablo Peguero (2020) and Louie Eljaua (2021).

Paddy, a native of Panama, graduated in 1988 from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. with a degree in mechanical engineering technology and earned his masters degree in public administration in 1993. He was selected by Atlanta in the 56th round of the 1988 amateur draft and played one year in the Braves farm system.

He spent 2007-11 as Director of Latin America Operations with the Toronto Blue Jays. Prior to joining the Blue Jays, Paddy spent 14 seasons with the Atlanta Braves, serving as an area scout (1993-2002), assistant director of player development (2002-03) and director of Latin America operations (2004-06).

During Paddy’s tenure, the White Sox have agreed to terms with more than 150 international free agents from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. In May 2017, the White Sox signed OF Luis Robert to a minor-league contract with a $26-million signing bonus. Robert won an American League Gold Glove® Award as a rookie in 2020.

The SABR Scouts Committee credits Marco Paddy in part for scouting, recommending and/or signing the following future major leaguers:

Andrew Brown, Ben Kozlowski, Matt McClendon, Zach Miner, Chris Waters (as area scout); Elvis Andrus, Luis Avilan, Francisley Bueno, Barbaro Canizares, Randall Delgado, Neftali Feliz, Jesus Sucre (as Braves international signings), plus future Braves minor leaguers: Grant Michael Abrams, Andrew Aaron Brown, Benjamin Anthony Kozlowski, Christopher Myron Waters, Jose D. Camarena, Jason Ryan King, Thomas Francis Parrott, Michael Reiss (North York, Ont.), Steven Reiss (North York, Ont.), Michael Hughes Smalley, Luke James Albert, Brian Phillip Almeida, Raymond Earl Beasley, Kevin Robert Brown, Christopher K. Chavez, Kyle Conrad Colton, Joseph Brian Cox, Keith Wayne Daugherty, Javier E. Dominguez, Eric Aubrey Herndon, Daniel C. Kelly, Neal Maybin, Matthew Bruce McClendon, Christopher Nelson McKnigh, Daniel L. Mead, Thomas Walker Reynolds and James Daniel Wise.

Henderson Alvarez, Adeiny Hechavarria, Jairo Labourt, Dawel Lugo, Roberto Osuna, Carlos Perez, Carlos Ramirez, Jesus Tinoco as Blue Jays international signings).

Jose Abreu, Luis Robert, Fernando Tatis Jr., Oscar Colás (as White Sox international signings).

SABR SCOUTS COMMITTEE ROLAND HEMOND AWARD RECIPIENTS

2001 - Milwaukee........Roland Hemond

2002 - Boston...........Bob Howsam

2003 - Denver...........Pat Gillick

2004 - Cincinnati.......Paul Snyder

2005 - Toronto..........Paul Beeston

2006 - Seattle..........Bob Fontaine, Jr.

2007 - St. Louis........Bill Clark

2008 - Cleveland........Mike Veeck & Tyler Tumminia (Goldklang Group)

2009 - Washington.......Dallas Green

2010 - Atlanta..........John Schuerholz

2011 - Los Angeles......Dennis Gilbert

2012 - Minneapolis......Bob Gebhard

2013 - Philadelphia.....Terry Ryan

2014 - Houston..........Tal Smith

2015 - Chicago..........Bill Bryk

2016 - Miami............Michael Hill

2017 - New York.........Jax Robertson

2023 - Chicago..........Marco Paddy