Tigers hire Conner as amateur scouting director

DETROIT -- Less than a week after the Tigers tapped into the Rays’ front office for someone to run their amateur and international scouting efforts, they’ve tapped into the Padres’ front office for an amateur scouting director. Mark Conner, who served as San Diego’s scouting director for seven seasons before becoming a special assistant last fall, has been hired as the Tigers’ director of amateur scouting.

Conner will report to Rob Metzler, who was hired on Tuesday as a vice president and assistant general manager in charge of scouting. President of baseball operations Scott Harris said at the time that the Tigers would look to hire an amateur scouting director to work with him.

“I’m excited to welcome another highly talented baseball operations executive to our front office,” Harris said in a release. “Rob and Mark have each led some of the most successful Drafts of the last decade, and I am confident they will form a dynamic partnership atop our amateur scouting department. Mark’s track record of success and vision for the department made him the perfect fit for this role. He will be a great complement to Rob and an excellent leader for our area scouts, cross-checkers and analysts moving forward.”

The structure is similar to what the Tigers had for several years in the past decade when David Chadd was an assistant general manager in charge of amateur scouting while Scott Pleis served as amateur scouting director. Chadd later went on to take larger duties on the Major League side as an assistant GM. The Tigers parted ways with Pleis a few weeks ago, then reached a mutual agreement to part ways with Chadd.

“I couldn’t be happier to join a historic organization like the Tigers and I’m looking forward to working with Scott, Rob and the entire baseball operations group,” Conner said in the same release. “During the interview process with Scott and Rob it was clear that all our philosophies, and perhaps more importantly passions to win, were very much aligned. I’ve seen firsthand over the last seven seasons what an impact sound yet progressive amateur draft decisions can have on an organization’s path to success, and I’m excited to get started.”

Conner showed his strengths for several seasons in San Diego, where he helped build the pipeline of young talent that helped general manager A.J. Preller acquire top talent in trades using prospects. Under Conner, Padres top picks included Cal Quantrill (who went to Cleveland along with fellow Conner pick Owen Miller in the Mike Clevinger trade), Eric Lauer (who went to Milwaukee for Trent Grishman), Xavier Edwards (traded to Tampa Bay for Jake Cronenworth), McKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams and Robert Hassell. The latter three headlined the prospect package to Washington for Juan Soto and Josh Bell.

There was depth to Conner’s drafts as well. Ty France, a 35th-round pick in 2015, became an All-Star this year in Seattle after he was part of the Austin Nola trade. Owen Caissie, the Padres’ second-round pick in 2020, went to the Cubs in the Yu Darvish trade. Buddy Reed, a second-round pick in 2016, went to Oakland for Jurickson Profar. David Bednar, a 35th-round pick, went to Pittsburgh along with 2019 picks Drake Fellows and Hudson Head for Joe Musgrove. Blake Hunt, a 2017 second-round pick, and Cole Wilcox, a 2020 third-round pick, went to the Rays in the Blake Snell trade.

Not all of Conner’s picks have become trade commodities. Ryan Weather, a 2018 first-rounder, made 18 starts in 2021 and another this year. Catcher Luis Campusano, a second-round selection in 2017, was an MLB Pipeline Top 100 prospect before spending parts of the past three seasons in San Diego. Steven Wilson, an eighth-rounder in 2018, became a key reliever as a rookie this season. Shortstop Jackson Merrill, the 27th overall selection in the 2021 Draft, currently ranks as the Padres’ top prospect and sits 83rd on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100.

Conner moved into a special assistant role as part of a larger scouting and player development shakeup in the Padres' front office last fall. His role allowed him to scout amateur talent as well as prospects in the Padres' system.

Conner first joined the Padres as an amateur scout in 2010 after a college coaching career that included five years as pitching coach at South Carolina-Aiken. His scouting years in San Diego overlapped with Tigers manager A.J. Hinch’s tenure with the Padres as vice president of scouting and assistant GM. Scott Bream, Tigers vice president of player personnel, was also with the Padres at the time as a Major League scout and special assistant.