ORLANDO, Fla. — Weeks after his most famous draft pick retired from pitching, San Diego Padres player personnel director and former Los Angeles Dodgers scouting director Logan White announced his retirement while being honored Tuesday as one of Major League Baseball’s Scouts of the Year recipients. White has long been one of the sport’s most prominent talent evaluators, having served as a top executive for the Padres after drafting three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and other key players for the Dodgers.

White and Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller, who hired White from the Dodgers in 2014, were not immediately available for comment. Multiple people inside and outside the organization, including some who were present for Tuesday’s ceremony, told The Athletic they were not aware White, 63, was planning to retire this winter.

Congratulations to the 2025 West Coast Scout of the Year, Logan White, on an illustrious 40+ year baseball career.

We wish you all the best in your retirement! pic.twitter.com/ub1BJcL8XT

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) December 10, 2025

Before joining the Padres, White oversaw 13 drafts for the Dodgers. More than 50 of his selections for Los Angeles went on to reach the majors, including All-Stars such as Matt Kemp, Corey Seager, Russell Martin and Kershaw, who retired last month after the Dodgers won the World Series. White also helped steer the Dodgers’ international scouting and signings of Yasiel Puig, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Takashi Saito and others.

With San Diego, White served as a senior advisor to Preller and an influential voice across the organization’s amateur, international and professional scouting efforts, although team sources said Preller had increasingly relied on other executives over the past two years. Despite frequent trades involving their farm system, the Padres have consistently succeeded at restocking it. The club’s draft picks over the past decade include CJ Abrams, David Bednar and MacKenzie Gore, the Washington Nationals left-hander who is one of the top targets on the trade market.

A former minor-league pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, White began his scouting career in 1988 as an associate scout for the same organization. He later became an area scout for the Baltimore Orioles, the West Coast supervisor for the Padres and the West Coast supervisor for the Orioles.

White’s announcement Tuesday surprised more than a few people in the industry, especially because revelations of retirement at the annual Scouts of the Year ceremonies have been rare. With the Padres now up for sale and potentially facing a shrinking window of contention, White joins a few other key officials who voluntarily left the organization over the past 18 months, including now-former manager Mike Shildt and front-office executives Fred Uhlman Jr. and Wells Oliver.