Mariners make major change in their international scouting department, firing scouting supervisor in the Dominican Republic

HOUSTON — Multiple sources confirmed that Eddy Toledo, the Mariners’ supervisor of scouting for the Dominican Republic, was informed by the organization that he would not have his contract renewed for next season.

Tom Allison, the Mariners’ vice president of scouting, was in Japan and returned a message via text, saying: “Never an easy conversation. Making moves to allow the Mariners to take the next step in the ever-changing international scouting landscape.”

Toledo is a longtime scout in the DR, who has worked for a variety of teams. He scouted and signed Nelson Cruz, Carlos Gomez and Jose Reyes while working for the Mets. He was hired in 2012 by the Mariners to work under Tim Kissner, who had just been hired as the international director of scouting and had a close relationship with Toledo. Kissner and Toledo were responsible for scouting and signing prized prospects outfielder Julio Rodriguez in 2017 and shortstop Noelvi Marte in 2018.

Rodriguez, 18, rated as the Mariners’ No. 2 prospect in the organization and was recently listed as the No. 34 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America. He is a prized player that the Mariners envision as a cornerstone outifelder along with Jarred Kelenic, the No. 1 prospect in the system.

Marte, 17, is rated as the No. 13 prospect in the organization by MLB Pipeline and was considered the No. 4 international signing in 2018.

Kissner was let go after last season and the Mariners installed Frankie Thon Jr. as the new international director of scouting. It’s not uncommon for a person to want to bring in people he’s familiar with to fill those key roles.

With the standard scouting and player development contracts ending on Oct. 31, there will be plenty of attrition around baseball. There will likely be more in the Mariners organization with the news being leaked in the coming weeks.

The Dominican Republic is a hotbed of international baseball talent and vital to any organization’s success. The Mariners have invested millions into modern academy to help develop that talent.

Also

The Mariners will start Felix Hernandez on Sunday in the series finale vs. the Astros and bump Justus Sheffield’s turn to Tuesday at T-Mobile Park vs. the Reds. With the offday on Wednesday, Hernandez would be working on normal rest. The move also splits up Sheffield and Yusei Kikuchi from pitching in back-to-back games, something teams like to do with similar pitchers.