Rangers' T-Money named Scout of the Year

ARLINGTON -- Rangers area scout Takeshi Sakurayama was honored with the 2021 Jim Ridley Scout of the Year Award by the Canadian Baseball Network on Friday morning.

Sakurayama, who is known as T-Money, is the first Rangers scout to be selected for the honor, which was first presented in 1994. He is also just the fifth non-Canadian-based scout to win the award.

Sakurayama has been a full-time scout for Texas since 2012 and has spent 11 years with the club. He graduated from KEIO University in Tokyo before coming to the United States and receiving a master’s degree in sports management from Indiana State University.

He started his scouting career with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Rakuten Golden Eagles, working as an international scout from 2006-10.

In 2021, Sakurayama was credited with signing four Canadian draftees, including fifth-round MLB Draft pick Mitch Bratt. The Rangers also signed two undrafted free agents from Canada.

“On behalf of the Rangers' organization and scouting staff, we are grateful to Bob Elliott and the Canadian Baseball Network for recognizing Takeshi with this honor," said Rangers assistant general manager for scouting Josh Boyd. "T-Money’s passion for scouting is infectious, and his work ethic and competitive drive to find players seemingly allows him to be in multiple places at the same time.

What sets him further apart is the way he represents himself and the Rangers in the communities he scouts. He has a very natural ability to form personal connections and relationships with the players and their families, and we are so happy to congratulate him for this award.”