One of the major architects of the Blue Jays' organization over the past decade and a half has moved on. Vice-President Tim Wilken, who was on the job when many of the current club's top players were drafted, is leaving the Blue Jays for reasons that are not being spelled out publicly. "I decided I needed to look for more opportunities and to make more of a contribution to an organization," Wilken told the Toronto Sun, and read into that what you will. There's no mention of his departure on the Jays' MLB Web page, nor (surprisingly, to me at least) has the Star commented on it yet. It's no secret that the Blue Jays' approach to scouting has shifted radically under JP Ricciardi's direction, but there's no indication if that played a role in Wilken's departure. Perhaps we''ll learn more in the coming days.
Wilken goes back about as far as you can go with the Jays, coming aboard in the expansion year and throwing BP on the field while Pat Gillick was up in the front office, Gord Ash was selling tickets at the Ex, and Paul Godfrey ... well, Paul was a major player with the Jays back then, too. Wilken became an area scout in '79 and worked his way up through the organization, culminating in a stint as national cross-checker from 1989-95 and as Scouting Director from 1996 up to the Ricciardi regime. Along with Bob Engle, he's the man most responsible for the talent drafted by the Blue Jays over at least the last ten years, and maybe longer. And that is a rich legacy.
It's impossible to really assess Wilken's career with the Blue Jays at this point; we'll need more time to see how some of his later draft picks work out. Not only that, but even Scouting Directors don't get the last word on which players are drafted -- GMs have been known to take an interest in that area -- and they're not responsible for their post-draft development or career-ending injuries (unless the warning signs were already clearly there). That said, here's a partial list of the players who arrived on the scene just from his 1996 appointment as Scouting Director onwards:
Billy Koch
Josh Phelps
Vernon Wells
Mike Young
Felipe Lopez
Alexis Rios
Dustin McGowan
Gabe Gross
Brandon League
Mind you, for every Wells and McGowan, there were plenty of Peter Tuccis and Brian Cardwells. But that's the case for every team -- the draft is always a hit-and-miss proposition -- and the Jays have been doing extremely well in the first-year player draft over the last decade. Check out the first 15 picks in 1997:
1.Matt Anderson, rhp, Tigers
2.J.D. Drew, of, Phillies
3.Troy Glaus, 3b, Angels
4.Jason Grilli, rhp, Giants
5.Vernon Wells, of, Blue Jays
6. Geoff Goetz, lhp, Mets
7. Dan Reichert, rhp, Royals
8. J.J. Davis, of, Pirates
9. Michael Cuddyer, 3b, Twins
10. Jon Garland, rhp, Cubs
11. Chris Enochs, rhp, Athletics
12. Aaron Akin, rhp, Marlins
13. Kyle Peterson, rhp, Brewers
14. Brandon Larson, ss, Reds
15.Jason Dellaero, ss, White Sox
Who would you swap Wells for on that list? Possibly Glaus, but the shine has come off his career somewhat lately. Otherwise, nobody. The worst the Jays have to show for their first-round picks in the '90s are Joe Lawrence (who might well have worked out, had his career not been Mike-Barretted to death), Kevin Witt (who's now at least a useful bat for Detroit) and Miguel Negron (who's not a lost cause yet). The Jays don't have any full-scale washouts like Geoff Goetz and JJ Davis, and that's a credit to Wilken and his department.
Like I say, I don't know why Wilken left -- it's probably something as simple as a difference in philosophy with his GM -- and I'm not in a position to say whether this is good or bad for the ballclub. But I will say that Wilken was one of the architects of the Blue Jays organization, and had a hand in both their glory years and, to a lesser degree, their harder times. Like any long-term employee, he was there for the good and the bad, but the good unquestionably lives on beyond him. Tim Wilken deserves to be very warmly remembered by Blue Jays fans for his contributions.
Wilken goes back about as far as you can go with the Jays, coming aboard in the expansion year and throwing BP on the field while Pat Gillick was up in the front office, Gord Ash was selling tickets at the Ex, and Paul Godfrey ... well, Paul was a major player with the Jays back then, too. Wilken became an area scout in '79 and worked his way up through the organization, culminating in a stint as national cross-checker from 1989-95 and as Scouting Director from 1996 up to the Ricciardi regime. Along with Bob Engle, he's the man most responsible for the talent drafted by the Blue Jays over at least the last ten years, and maybe longer. And that is a rich legacy.
It's impossible to really assess Wilken's career with the Blue Jays at this point; we'll need more time to see how some of his later draft picks work out. Not only that, but even Scouting Directors don't get the last word on which players are drafted -- GMs have been known to take an interest in that area -- and they're not responsible for their post-draft development or career-ending injuries (unless the warning signs were already clearly there). That said, here's a partial list of the players who arrived on the scene just from his 1996 appointment as Scouting Director onwards:
Billy Koch
Josh Phelps
Vernon Wells
Mike Young
Felipe Lopez
Alexis Rios
Dustin McGowan
Gabe Gross
Brandon League
Mind you, for every Wells and McGowan, there were plenty of Peter Tuccis and Brian Cardwells. But that's the case for every team -- the draft is always a hit-and-miss proposition -- and the Jays have been doing extremely well in the first-year player draft over the last decade. Check out the first 15 picks in 1997:
1.Matt Anderson, rhp, Tigers
2.J.D. Drew, of, Phillies
3.Troy Glaus, 3b, Angels
4.Jason Grilli, rhp, Giants
5.Vernon Wells, of, Blue Jays
6. Geoff Goetz, lhp, Mets
7. Dan Reichert, rhp, Royals
8. J.J. Davis, of, Pirates
9. Michael Cuddyer, 3b, Twins
10. Jon Garland, rhp, Cubs
11. Chris Enochs, rhp, Athletics
12. Aaron Akin, rhp, Marlins
13. Kyle Peterson, rhp, Brewers
14. Brandon Larson, ss, Reds
15.Jason Dellaero, ss, White Sox
Who would you swap Wells for on that list? Possibly Glaus, but the shine has come off his career somewhat lately. Otherwise, nobody. The worst the Jays have to show for their first-round picks in the '90s are Joe Lawrence (who might well have worked out, had his career not been Mike-Barretted to death), Kevin Witt (who's now at least a useful bat for Detroit) and Miguel Negron (who's not a lost cause yet). The Jays don't have any full-scale washouts like Geoff Goetz and JJ Davis, and that's a credit to Wilken and his department.
Like I say, I don't know why Wilken left -- it's probably something as simple as a difference in philosophy with his GM -- and I'm not in a position to say whether this is good or bad for the ballclub. But I will say that Wilken was one of the architects of the Blue Jays organization, and had a hand in both their glory years and, to a lesser degree, their harder times. Like any long-term employee, he was there for the good and the bad, but the good unquestionably lives on beyond him. Tim Wilken deserves to be very warmly remembered by Blue Jays fans for his contributions.
