The Mariners announced the hiring of four people for their scouting department, highlighted by the addition of Todd Donovan as assistant director of player personnel.
The Mariners announced four hirings in their scouting department Wednesday.
Todd Donovan was named the assistant director of player player personnel and will work directly under vice president of player personnel Tom Allison. Donovan, 37, will have input in all three facets  of the Mariners’ scouting operation — professional, amateur and international. Donovan worked with the Rays last season as a special assignment scout. But it was Donovan’s time with the Arizona Diamondbacks (2010-2014) in which he developed a relationship with  Allison and current Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto.
Before his time with Arizona, Donovan worked for 11 seasons in the minor leagues with seven organizations. He’s a cum laude graduate from Siena College and was taken by the Padres in the eighth round of the 1999 draft. He played 11 minor-league seasons as an outfielder.
Donovan is well-respected in the scouting community.
Most Read Sports Stories
“Outstanding hire for the Mariners,” an American League scout said.
The Mariners also hired three scouts — Jason Lefkowitz, Nick Manno and Andy Pratt — for their professional scouting department that is being run by Lee MacPhail IV.
Lefkowitz, 32, worked for the Astros the past two seasons. He also spent two years as a scout in the Yankees organization. Lefkowitz spent some time in the college-baseball ranks, working as an assistant at Brown University and UC-Santa Barbara. During that time, he also worked as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Science of Baseball Summer Coordinator from 2012-2o13.
Manno, 34, had worked for the Blue Jays since 2009, as an area scout for two seasons and then for four seasons as a professional scout. Before that, he worked for Major League Baseball. He also worked for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals from 2003 to 2006 as assistant director of player development. He’s the son of Bruce Manno, a special assistant for the Reds and had previous stints as director of player development  for the Braves, Brewers and Cardinals.
Pratt, 37, worked the past five seasons as a pro scout with the Brewers. Before that he worked as an a area scout for the Rangers — the team that drafted him out of Chino Valley High School in 1998 — from 2007-2011. Pratt pitched for nine professional seasons for four organizations. He made five big-league starts.