Kovacevic: Pirates Of The Caribbean: Part scout, part savior

Part 3 of 3 in Dejan’s series about Pittsburgh’s Dominican academy profiles Latin American scouting director Rene Gayo.

He bounced from the Texas Rangers to Cleveland, and his turning point came in 1998 when the Indians were eliminated by the New York Yankees and Cuban pitcher Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. John Hart, the Indians’ general manager, fumed and assigned Gayo to study the team’s operations in Latin America.

By 2000, Gayo had the title of scouting director for that region and soon would sign a remarkable total of 11 players who have made it to Cleveland or elsewhere in the majors, including Fausto Carmona, Jhonny Peralta, Willy Taveras, Danys Baez and [Rafael] Perez. Total expenditure on all 11 players: $2.1 million.

As much satisfaction as that surely brought, Gayo describes a personal element that touched him more.

“I felt like I found myself, like I belonged there,” he recalls.

The Pirates lured away Gayo three years later with a bigger salary and the promise of an investment in the region comparable to that of the Indians, this despite the franchise inexplicably having left the position of Latin American scouting director vacant for five years. But Dave Littlefield, the general manager who made that hire, never followed through in upgrading the Dominican academy or the annual signing budget.

Part 2: Brick by brick (improving the facilities):

It was Nutting early in 2007 who decided, with no input from then-general manager Dave Littlefield, to react to independent word about the Pirates’ lagging facilities and productivity in the region by arranging a visit. That happened in May of that year, with Littlefield ordered to come along in a look-at-this-mess-you’ve-made spirit. To boot, before the party left Pittsburgh, Littlefield was instructed to announce the trip to the media in a clubhouse gathering that might have been one of the most uncomfortable public moments of his tenure.

Gayo made no secret, then or now, that he welcomed the visit.

“I can’t tell you how much it meant to hear of Bob’s interest,” Gayo said. “And then, when he came, that was something else entirely.”