With the 2026 international signing period set to begin on Jan. 15, the Yankees are still searching for their next international scouting director, two sources told the Daily News this week.<\/p>\n
The sources were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely.<\/p>\n
One source in the organization said that the Yankees have only \u201cstarted\u201d conducting interviews as they look to replace longtime director Donny Rowland, who was not retained when his contract expired at the end of the season<\/a>. The team is not particularly close to naming his successor.<\/p>\n The Yankees have interviewed internal and external candidates for the job. One source said that the group includes, but is not limited to, former Marlins and Astros scouting exec turned Rice University professor Oz Ocampo; Cardinals special assistant to the general manager for player procurement Matt Slater; and Yankees director of baseball development Mario Garza.<\/p>\n Independent reporter Francys Romero<\/a> also said that former Rays vice president of baseball operations Carlos Rodriguez was a candidate for the position before taking an assistant GM job with the White Sox.<\/p>\n The Yankees\u2019 ongoing search is being handled by the typical front office contingent that interviews new personnel, which includes general manager Brian Cashman. Omar Minaya, a baseball operations senior advisor who worked as a scouting director and Latin American scouting coordinator earlier in his career, is also part of the search party, which one source said has taken an unusually long time to make a hire.<\/p>\n \u201cI would think that most people would probably think that,\u201d they continued, though the other source said that they didn\u2019t have much to compare the timeline to because Rowland had been the Yankees\u2019 international scouting director for 15 years.<\/p>\n While Rowland helped the Yankees land Jasson Dom\u00ednguez<\/a> and had some success with cheaper signings like Oswaldo Cabrera, Luis Severino, Miguel Andujar and Carlos Lagrange, the club moved on after awarding multi-million-dollar bonuses to numerous international prospects who didn\u2019t or have yet to pan out. Examples include Class of 2019 shortstop Alexander Vargas ($2.5 million), 2023 outfielder Brando Mayea ($4.35 million) and 2022 shortstop Roderick Arias ($4 million), though the list is much longer<\/a>\u00a0and dates back years.<\/p>\n In November, Cashman didn\u2019t provide a direct answer when asked what prompted the end of Rowland\u2019s tenure, simply calling it a \u201cdifficult decision.\u201d However, both sources said Rowland\u2019s exit came down to results, opposed to anything being below board.<\/p>\n One specifically mentioned \u201cbad performance\u201d and not \u201cgetting the bang for our buck.\u201d<\/p>\n Attempts to reach Rowland have not been successful since his ouster.<\/p>\n Rowland was not the only casualty of the Yankees\u2019 international scouting makeover, as one source confirmed that Edgar Mateo is no longer employed by the team. Mateo served as an assistant to Rowland for Latin American scouting.<\/p>\n Wilber S\u00e1nchez<\/a> first reported Mateo\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n With the Yankees still looking for a new director, one source said that the team has not parted with any other members of its international scouting department thus far. Both sources also said that a report claiming that the Yankees canceled all of their agreements with members of this year\u2019s international free agent (IFA) class is false.<\/p>\n Some agreements made under Rowland\u2019s watch have been rescinded, but not all.<\/p>\n Alas, the Yankees are not expected to sign one of MLB Pipeline<\/a>\u2018s top-50 prospects in this year\u2019s IFA class. They were previously expected to sign three such players, including Dominican shortstop Wandy Asigen, who is ranked second overall.<\/p>\n