The opinions of Scott Reid were important to Dave Dombrowski and Al Avila, a one-two punch at the top of the Detroit Tigers‘ organization in the mid-2000s and beyond. They worked together with the Florida Marlins before bringing winning baseball back to Detroit.
Reid, a longtime Tigers scout, died at age 74, the team announced Wednesday. He served as a scouting director, vice president to the general manager, vice president of player personnel and senior adviser upon arriving to Detroit with Dombrowski in 2002.
“Myself, along with so many others across the baseball community are saddened to learn of Scott Reid’s passing,” Tigers general manager Al Avila, who joined the Tigers not long after Dombrowski and Reid, said in a statement Wednesday. “We were blessed to spend decades working in the trenches alongside Scott.
MORE ABOUT REID: Meet Scott Reid, the invisible right-hand man to Tigers GM Al Avila
“(We) will always remember his passion for baseball, intellect of the game, and his standing as an all-around great talent evaluator, father and person. Scott was a trusted advisor to many in the Tigers organization, and a dear friend to all. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Sherry, son, Brian, and daughter, Lindsay, during this difficult time.”
Reid was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies with the No. 38 overall pick in the 1967 draft from Arizona State. He made his MLB debut for the Phillies in 1969, playing 13 games that season. He also played 25 games in 1970, concluding his big-league career. He spent seven years in the minor leagues.
But Reid stayed close to baseball for the rest of his life.
“He meant a lot to this organization and to a lot of people in this organization,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said Wednesday. “He did so much long before I got here. Our thoughts are with his family, with his friends, with his colleagues and the people around the game that he touched. Just gone too soon.”
NOTEBOOK: What Tigers outfielder Derek Hill thinks about demotion to Triple-A Toledo
MORE NOTES: Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull makes progress during injury rehab in Lakeland
After his playing career, the Phillies gave Reid his first coaching gig. He spent the 1974 and 1975 seasons with Triple-A Toledo, then part of Philadelphia’s farm system. Afterward, he started his scouting career with the Phillies as an area scout.
He became a major league scout for the Chicago Cubs in 1983, then went to the Marlins in 1992. That’s where he met Dombrowski and Avila, joining their inner-circle — he became an assistant to the general manager — and winning the World Series in 1997.
Reid stuck with Dombrowski and Avila because they needed his wisdom.
His voice was influential in the construction of the Tigers, and his impacted reached the entire baseball community.
VERLANDER TALKS: Inside Justin Verlander’s MVP season & his thoughts on a reunion with Tigers
“Once I got this job, even though he wasn’t in the organization anymore, he reached out and congratulated me,” Hinch said. “You cross paths with so many people in the game and overlap at games and scouting events. When I was in the front office and scouting departments at my various stops, I always came across him.
“He meant a lot to Scott Bream, who runs our pro scouting department now, and touched so many lives of young scouts. He was a mentor to a lot of people.”
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.