Blue Jays add Dana Brown to front office

Oct 13, 2009 - 9:46 PM TORONTO(AP) -- Dana Brown was hired as a special assistant to new Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos.

The 42-year-old Brown spent the past eight seasons as director of scouting for the Washington Nationals and Montreal Expos. It was with Montreal that Brown first met Anthopoulos, who replaced J.P. Ricciardi in Toronto on Oct. 3.

"He's not here because he's my friend," Anthopoulos said. "He's here because I think he's a great baseball man, a great evaluator and a good human being."

Anthopoulos said Brown, credited with drafting pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann during his time in Washington, will focus on Toronto's preparations for next June's amateur draft.

Anthopoulos also said Sal Butera will remain on staff as a special assistant to the GM, and that that he intends to hire another assistant before the start of next season.

The Blue Jays made two other appointments Tuesday, hiring Ryan Mittleman as coordinator of amateur scouting and Harry Einbinder as coordinator of professional scouting.

Drafted by Philadelphia in 1989, Brown spent three seasons in the minor leagues before becoming a coach in 1992. He spent eight seasons as a scout with Pittsburgh before joining Montreal.

Brown, who acknowledged he harbors dreams of becoming a GM himself one day, said he considers Anthopoulos "like a younger brother."

"I'm excited about Alex's energy and the direction he's going to take the club in," Brown said.

In his first moves since taking over, Anthopoulos shook up Torontos scouting and development staff last Friday, hiring former assistant GM Tony LaCava director of player personnel and firing three people from Ricciardi's regime, including former player development director Dick Scott.