The New York Mets announced today that the club named Allard Baird Vice President, Assistant General Manager, Scouting & Player Development.
Baird, 57, had worked for the Boston Red Sox since 2006. He also was the Senior Vice President, General Manager for the Kansas City Royals from June, 2000-May, 2006.
"We are excited to continue to bolster our front office with senior leadership," Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen said. "Allard has a championship resume and played a key role in helping the Red Sox win three World Series titles. He will be a great resource to myself and our entire baseball operations department."
"I'm thrilled to join the Mets and am ready for this opportunity to help build the Mets into perennial contenders," Baird said. "A key ingredient that drew me to this role was Brodie's leadership and vision."
Baird spent 18 years with the Royals after beginning as a Minor League hitting coach in 1988. He later was Kansas City's National Scouting Cross-Checker from 1993-1997. Baird became the Assistant General Manager in 1998 before taking over as the GM in June, 2000.
The Rochester, NH native joined the Red Sox in July, 2006 as a special assignment scout. He also served as an advisor to GM Theo Epstein in 2007 and later became the Assistant General Manager. From 2011-2014, he was the Vice President, Professional Scouting, overseeing the Red Sox professional scouting department and from 2015 through last season he worked as the Senior Vice President, Player Personnel.
Baird was a member of the Baseball Olympic Selection for the United States 2000 Gold medal-winning team. He was the head baseball coach at Broward (FL) Community College in 1987 and began his coaching tenure in 1986 as an assistant at Southern Arkansas University following his playing career at SAU. Baird was inducted into the Southern Arkansas University Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
Baird and his wife Julie have been married 36 years.