Yankees confirm new hire will bring 1 long-awaited change to return to glory days

When the New York Yankees poached St. Louis Cardinals exec Matt Slater for a position in their reshuffled International Scouting department, it was assumed he was being targeted for his skills and relationships in a key area where they've lagged since Masahiro Tanaka. A Brendan Kuty deep dive in The Athletic this week confirmed exactly what we'd hoped: the Yankees' renewed international push isn't just about refocusing their efforts with Latin American bonus babies. They know they've fallen behind in Japan and Asia, too, and Slater will immediately get to work in pivoting their process.

The Yankees under Donny Rowland did continue to spend big on amateur talent — it was the proper targeting of investments (and post-signing development) where they lagged. When it comes to Japanese stars, though, they've been on the opposite end of the spectrum, nearly non-participatory and bruised ever since Shohei Ohtani eliminated them prematurely as the supposed "favorite" for his services back in 2017-18.

They tried for and coveted Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a $300+ million deal, but were outfoxed by the pull of Ohtani's friendship and unique contract language, which helped land him in Dodger Blue on a deal that eclipsed the one the Yankees doled out to Gerrit Cole (which may or may not have mattered). Otherwise, the Yanks have been silent in the mid-tier Japanese and Korean markets, where the Blue Jays, Astros, and Padres have recently scored victories.

Once upon a time, the assumption was that any established international star, from Cuba to Japan to the Dominican Republic, would check the heroic Yankees first before moving elsewhere. Hideki Matsui, Jose Contreras, Hideki Irabu ... the hand-wringing from other teams was endless as the Yankees won battle after international battle in a world without a draft.

Since Matsui/Contreras, that largely hasn't been the case. Tanaka was the outlier, not the norm. Maybe Kei Igawa scarred them. Maybe they lost their fastball as the baseball landscape opened up. Maybe history's too far in the rear view mirror these days. Thankfully, they are well aware of their deficiencies, and Slater's job is to reignite the spark.

Yankees' new hire Matt Slater will bring expertise in Asian market from St. Louis Cardinals

But that's not all. In addition to Slater, the Yankees have reportedly poached Nao Masamoto for their staff as well. Masamoto helped revamp the Cubs' approach in recent years, landing them Seiya Suzuki and Shōta Imanaga.

After all, it's about a lot more than just winning the bidding.

Immediate skepticism surrounded new director Mario Garza's arrival. After all, he's an internal hire, not an external world-builder. What could he really do that Rowland couldn't seem to?

The jury will remain out on his Latin American work for several years, the nature of the beast. But roping in Slater and immediately empowering him in an area where the Yankees have stumbled for decades is an exciting step. Adding Masamoto could be similarly massive.

We hoped that was the goal of his hiring, and it seems the Yankees were as hopeful as we were that an external leader could make the department more complete and deliver on its promise.