When Logan White was passed over after interviewing for the Padres' general manager vacancy this summer, that was the last I thought of him. Today I woke up to a bunch of tweets ensuring he would be on my mind for quite some time. As first reported by CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, White, who until this point was the Dodgers' scouting director, was hired by San Diego; his specific role has yet to be announced. That should be cleared up when the team makes it official, which is expected to happen today.
White has been in the scouting side of baseball since 1988, after his brief career as a minor league pitcher ended. According to his profile on the Dodgers' official site (which I can't imagine will be there much longer), White started with two years as an associate scout for the Mariners, then spent 1990 though '92 with the Orioles organization as an area scout. From there he moved on to his first stint with the Padres, for whom he served as the West Coast Supervisor before heading back to Baltimore as their West Coast Supervisor, albeit with several added responsibilities. After seven years there, White joined the Dodgers in 2002 as their director of amateur scouting, a role he held until his promotion to Assistant GM in 2007. He got another bump up in 2013, when he was named Vice President, Amateur Scouting.
Much of the buzz has centered on the numerous successful draftees and international free agents snagged up under White's watch. The list reads like a who's who of the past ten and next ten years of baseball, peppered with names like Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Yasiel Puig, and Joc Pederson.
The rest of the buzz has been a unanimous stamp of approval from fans and media alike. One of my favorite gauges to use when judging an acquisition, be it a player or an executive, is how fans of his most recent employer react. Dodgers fans and bloggers were all disappointed to see him go, which is both encouraging and deserving of its own post.