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The New York Yankees have fired Donny Rowland, the team's long-term international scouting director.
According to The Athletic, the Yankees made the decision earlier this offseason after failing to successfully convert their big-money overseas signings into MLB stars in recent years.
It showed on the field this year with Aaron Boone's team getting eliminated from the playoffs in the second round by the Toronto Blue Jays.
Rowland, 62, spent 15 years in the role and was with the Yankees for 23 years. The team is still weighing up his replacement.
New York's 16th consecutive season without a championship ended in early October with a 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays, who ended up losing 4-3 to the Dodgers in the World Series.
A year after an AL East title and a five-game World Series loss to the Dodgers, the Yankees had a winning record for the 33rd straight season.
The New York Yankees have fired Donny Rowland, their long-term international scouting chief
New York's 16th consecutive season without a championship ended in early October
But they finished second to Toronto in the division on a tiebreaker, then rallied to win their best-of-three Wild Card Series against archrival Boston after losing the opener.
The Yankees have had success with overseas stars, such as Luis Severino and Miguel Andujar.
But a number of players in their system have underperformed, including outfielder Jasson Domínguez after he was handed a Yankees-record $5.1million signing bonus in 2019.
Mani Cedeno, Alexander Vargas, Brando Mayea, Roderick Arias have all failed to make the step up in recent years.
The Yankees also missed out on Japan's Roki Sasaki, a highly-coveted Japanese pitcher, to the Dodgers in January.
