Former Blue Jays scouting director Jon Lalonde (Midland, Ont.) now in his 27th year as a Jays manager of player personnel.

March 12, 2025

By Bob Elliott

Canadin Baseball Network

Jon Lalonde was scouting director for the Toronto Blue Jays from the 2003 draft until the 2009 annual refreshing of the farm system.

He is now entering his 27th season working for the Jays,

Lalonde had two of his draft picks appear in the majors in 2024: LHP James Paxton and C Yan Gomes. Gomes had 14 hits and seven RBIs, while Paxton won nine games in 19 starts.

So, why is Lalonde the 2024 winner of the Jim Ridley award as the Canadian Baseball Network’s Scout of the Year?

Well, Lalonde was the first man to spot a special ability in a young scout and a future World Series winner, a franchise-altering front office man working for the Montreal Expos. Lalonde hired Alex Anthopoulos as the Expos assistant scouting director at the end of the 2023 season.

Scouts do not only scout high schoolers and college players.

Anthopoulos righted the Blue Jays franchise in 2015 when they reached the American League Championship Series, losing in six games to the Kansas City Royals, the eventual World Series champions. Perhaps we’re a tad late to the party — Lalonde should have won our Scout of the Year honour that year.

Now, Lalonde is a manager, player personnel with the Blue Jays, along with Nick Manno and Brent Urcheck.

Anthopoulos moved on to the Los Angeles Dodgers and two more trips to post-season play.

Now, as general manager in Atlanta, he enters 2024 with seven-straight post-season appearances, including his Braves winning the 2021 Fall Classic against the Houston Astros.

His Braves have compiled a 604-427 record (a .586 winning percentage). That's impressive, very impressive, but not as high as Anthopoulos' Jays finished the 2015 season. They were 50-51 before adding SS Troy Tulowitzki, LHP David Price, RP LaTroy Hawkins, OF Ben Revere, RP Mark Lowe and INF Cliff Pennington going 43-18 (.704) over their final 61 games of the season.

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The first time I ever saw Anthopoulos was at Bob Smyth's facility in Etobicoke – now Denny Berni's Pro Teach Baseball - at a Major League Scouting Bureau winter camp. Half the scouts there asked, “Who is the new guy?” This young handsome man wore a dark overcoat and black pants. The majority of scouts on this frigid morning were wearing sweat pants or track pants and windbreakers. Some wore ball caps.

Eventually, I discovered that the “newcomer,” who looked like he had stepped off the pages of GQ -- worked for the Expos. Scouting was and is a noble profession – although not as respected as before the book Money Ball – but veteran scouts do not take kindly to newcomers.

Why? Because veteran scouts don't trust newcomers..

Later, with the Jays, Anthopoulos told me how it was difficult scouting Canada at the start ... except for Jim Ridley. One night in St. Petersburg before a Jays-Tampa Bay Rays game in 2008, he explained his relationship with the older scouts.

“I was like the kid walking into the cafeteria at lunch the first day at a new school with his tray and no place to sit,” explained Anthopoulos. “Jim Ridley was like the guy who would have said, 'Here come sit at our table.'

“He told me what tournaments I had to go to, how this coach could not judge his hitters but was bang on evaluating his pitchers. He never told me any secrets, but the man certainly welcomed me.”

So, it is fitting that Lalonde, who brought Anthopoulos to Toronto, is the 2024 winner of the Ridley award.

Hired by Montreal in 2000 as an unpaid intern, Anthopoulos served as a scouting intern, was promoted to the Expos' scouting coordinator and then was assistant scouting director when he departed for the Rogers Centre.

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Lalonde did more than hire Anthopoulos away from the Expos.

He hired Billy Gasparino as a cross checker in Southern California. Gasparino served in that role from 2004 to 2006 before becoming the Jays’ national crosschecker from 2007 to 2010.

He also hired Steve Miller, who did the club’s Southeast and South regional cross-checking, in addition to being supervisor for the Midwest area. Miller scouted and signed 2010 first-rounder Noah Syndergaard, who made 164 major league starts, winning 59 games.

At the 2024 trade deadline, Lalonde was heavily involved in the Danny Jansen trade to the Boston Red Sox on July 27, 2024 which saw the Red Sox give up RHP Gilberto Batista, INF Cutter Coffey and INF Eddinson Paulino.

Lalonde is the fourth Jays scout to win the Scout of the Year honour, joining Andrew Tinnish (Burlington, Ont.) in 2012, Walt Jefferies (Paris, Ont.) in 1999 and Ed Heather (Cambridge, Ont.) in 1997.

Draft choices made when Lalonde was the Blue Jays’ scouting director included:

(We are never sure what is the best way to list draft picks. Signing bonus? By round? By home runs? By wins? We decided to list them by games played.)

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Aaron Hill, Lalonde’s best (player) sign

_ INF Aaron Hill, a first round draft (13th overall) in 2003, who played in 1,559 games over his 13-year career with the Blue Jays, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Red Sox and San Francisco Giants. He won two Silver Sluggers, making the 2009 all-star team, winning the AL Comeback Player of the Year and the 2012 NL Wilson Defensive Player.

_ 1B-LF Adam Lind, third round, 2004. He played 1,344 games in his 12-year career with the Jays, Milwaukee, Seattle and Washington. In 2009, Lind won a Silver Slugger award and also the Edgar Martinez award.

_ C Yan Gomes, a 10th round pick in 2009, who has played 1,118 games over 13 years with Cleveland, Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, Toronto and Oakland. He made the 2018 all-star game, won a Silver Slugger, the 2013 NL Wilson Defensive Player and won a World Series with the Nats in 2019.

_ OF Jake Marisnick, third in 2000. He is in camp with the Atlanta Braves and hopes to add to his games played total. Going into this season, he has played 977 games in 11 years with the Houston Astros, Miami Marlins, the Cubs, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, the Mets, Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

_ OF Travis Snider, first round (14th overall) in 2006. He played 630 games in eight years with the Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Orioles. He was the youngest player in the AL in 2008.

_ OF Eric Thames, seventh round in 2008. He played 606 games in his six-year career with Milwaukee, the Blue Jays, Washington and Seattle.

_ LHP Aaron Loup ninth round in 2009. He pitched in 591 games with the Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Mets, Tampa Bay, Phillies and the Padres.

_ INF Ryan Goins, fourth round in 2009. He played 555 games in eight years with the Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals.

_ INF Ryan Roberts, 18th pick in 2003. He appeared in 518 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay, the Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and the Texas Rangers in nine years.

_ RP Marc Rzepczynski, fifth in 2004. He pitched in 506 games over his 10-year career. He pitched for Cleveland, St. Louis, the Blue Jays, Seattle, Oakland, Padres and Washington.

_ C J.P. Arencibia, first rounder (21st overall) in 2007. He appeared in 466 games with the Blue Jays, Texas and Tampa Bay.

_ LHP Brett Cecil. first round (38th overall) in 2007. He pitched in 443 games in 10 seasons with the Blue Jays and the St. Louis Cardinals. He won 44 games and saved 12 others.

_ RP Casey Janssen, fourth round, 2004. he pitched 437 games for the Blue Jays and the Nationals. Janssen had 90 career saves.

_ RP Ryan Tepera, 19th rounder 2009. He pitched in 373 games with the Blue Jays, Angels, White Sox and the Cardinals.

_ RP Ryan Farquhar, 10th rounder in 2008. He pitched in 253 games in his seven years with Seattle, Tampa Bay, Chicago White Sox and the Blue Jays.

_ RHP Shaun Marcum, a third rounder in 2003. He pitched in 195 games, registering 61 victories in nine years pitching for the Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets and Cleveland.

_ LHP James Paxton (Ladner, BC), an unsigned first rounder (37th overall) in 2009, who was selected a year later by the Mariners in the fourth round. Jays executives admit privately it was one of the largest mistakes in franchise history. Lalonde did the drafting, someone else was supposed to get the deal done with agent Scott Boras. Paxton made 177 starts, winning 73 games including a no hitter for the Seattle Mariners at the Rogers Centre. He also pitched for the New York Yankees, Red Sox and the Dodgers.

_ Ryan Schimpf, fifth round in 2009. He appeared in 147 games with the Angels and Padres.

_ LHP Ricky Romero, first round (sixth overall) in 2005. He pitched in 129 games during his five-year career. Romero made the 2011 all-star game.

_ RHP Jesse Litsch, 24th round 2004. He pitched in 88 games in five years with the Blue Jays.

_ RHP Chad Jenkins, first rounder (20th overall) 2009. He pitched in 46 games during parts of four seasons with the Jays.

Some of these players Lalonde was the signing scout – but he drafted them all. He was the signing scout when it came to bringing Anthopoulos to Toronto.

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Alex Anthopoulos … when he was the Blue Jays general manager.

How good is Anthopoulos? Well in his first year as GM of the Blue Jays then president Paul Beeston told me, “He reminds me of (Hall of Famer) Pat Gillick.”

I told Beeston it was unfair to drop a compliment like that on a guy starting out.

Now, it looks like Beeston was right again ... but Lalonde was first to recognize Anthopoulos's wisdom, passion and work ethic.

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Gomes was released by the Cubs on June 21, 2024 and we can’t find him on any spring rosters. Paxton had a partially torn right calf in an Aug. 11 start against the Houston Astros and retired. Marisnick is in camp with the Braves and is a longshot to make the opening day roster.

Gasparino moved to the San Diego Padres as national crosschecker in the fall of 2010 and in late 2012 became the Padres scouting director. In 2015, he was named director of amateur scouting for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Formerly International cross-checker for the Rays, Miller is currently the director of International scouting for Tampa Bay.

And Anthopoulos he is still building.

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Canadian Baseball Network Scout of the Year

Re-Named Jim Ridley Award In 2009

Year Winner Hometown Club

1994 Bill Scherrer, Buffalo, NY, Florida Marlins

1995 Bill MacKenzie, Ottawa, Ont., Colorado Rockies

1996 Tim Harkness, Hampton, Ont., San Diego Padres

1997 Ed Heather, Cambridge, Ont., Toronto Blue Jays

1998 Wayne Norton, Port Moody, BC, Baltimore Orioles

1999 Walt Jefferies, Paris, Ont., Toronto Blue Jays

2000 Claude Pelletier, Ste-Lezare, Que., New York Mets

2001 Jim Kane, Brampton, Ont., Atlanta Braves

2002 Ken Lenihan, Bedford, N.S., MLB Scouting Bureau

2003 Dick (The Legend) Groch, St. Clair, Mich. Milwaukee Brewers

2004 Jim Ridley, Burlington, Ont., Minnesota Twins

2005 Walt Burrows, Brentwood Bay, BC, MLB Scouting Bureau

2006 Alex Agostino, Montreal, Que., Philadelphia Phillies

2007 Howie Norsetter, Sydney, Australia, Minnesota Twins

2008 Greg Hamilton, Ottawa, Ont., Baseball Canada

2009 Jim Ridley, Burlington, Ont., Minnesota Twins

2010 Jay Lapp, London, Ont., Milwaukee Brewers

2011 Doug Mathieson, Langley, BC, Arizona Diamondbacks

2012 Andrew Tinnish, Burlington, Ont., Blue Jays

2013 Murray Zuk, Souris, Man., San Diego Padres

2014 Wayne Norton, Port Moody, BC, Seattle Mariners

2015 Jim Stevenson, Tulsa, Oak., Houston Astros

2016 Doug Mathieson, Langley, BC, Arizona Diamondbacks

2017 Chris Reitsma, Calgary, Alta., Baltimore Orioles

2018 Bill Byckowski, Georgetown, Ont., Cincinnati Reds

2019 Matt Higginson, Grimsby, Ont, Oakland A’s.

2020 Lonnie Goldberg, Overland Park, Kan., Kansas City Royals.

2021 Takeshi ‘T-Money’ Sakurayama, Hartford, Conn., Texas Rangers.

2022 Chris Kemlo, Oshawa, Ont., San Diego Padres.

2023 John Castleberry, Orleans, Mass., San Francisco Giants/Cincinnati Reds.

2024 Jon Lalonde, Midland, Ont., Toronto Blue Jays.

(BOLD denotes a member of the Canadian Hall of Fame in St. Marys.)

Elliott: The 2024 CBN Scout of the Year — Blue Jays Jon Lalonde