Logan White Leaves Dodgers For Padres

I can’t remember where I said this the other day — the comments, probably, or maybe Twitter — but after the Josh Byrnes rumors came out, making it clear that he’d be part of the organization but more than likely not as the GM, I briefly thought about the incredible talent this front office might have. Byrnes could have replaced De Jon Watson a head of player development. The new GM might be a very interesting name like David Forst or Mike Hazen, finally getting a shot. Logan White could keep running the scouting department. And Andrew Friedman could lord above it all, keeping everyone on the right path.

That might still happen, in some way. It just won’t happen like that. So long, Logan White:

Logan White, well-respected dodgers scouting director who picked Kershaw, Kemp and the others, is taking job with Padres.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) October 27, 2014

White had been with the Dodgers since 2002 and had played an instrumental role in drafting some of the team’s biggest stars, and not only domestic draftees — White played an enormous part in the international successes the Dodgers have had, including Hiroki Kuroda, Hyun-jin Ryu, Yasiel Puig, and others. We’ve been worried about him leaving for years, of course, because he’s so highly-respected. In addition to interviewing for the GM job that eventually went to Ned Colletti, White had put his name into the hat for top jobs with the Astros (twice!), Mets, Diamondbacks, and even for these very Padres just a few months ago after Byrnes was dismissed, losing out to AJ Preller. Back in 2010, there was briefly a panic that he was leaving the organization under uncertain circumstances, but obviously that never panned out.

It’s interesting that he’s leaving for a situation where he’s not going to be the boss, but I’m sure we’ll learn more about that soon. Maybe this is some kind of a promotion, or a change in roles. Maybe he decided he wasn’t a fit with the new Dodgers regime, or the other way around. For now, it’s all just speculation. The only thing we know for sure is that White had been a big part of the success the Dodgers have had over the last decade, and losing him — to a division rival, no less — really stings.