MACK - Mets Hire Deron Johhson as a 'Special Assignment Scout'

 

The Mets made a significant move on October 29^th, hiring super-scout, Deron Johnson as a ‘special assignment scout.

He first started in baseball as an undrafted player, out of St. Mary’s College. He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates and played three minor-league seasons as an outfielder (1988–1990), posting a career .225/.291/.370 line in 113 games.⁠

He then served as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at the University of San Francisco (1992–1993) and also worked as a high school hitting coach.

Johnson joined the Minnesota Twins in January 1994 as a Northern California area scout. He advanced to West Coast supervisor (from 1998) and was promoted to scouting director in September 2007, a role he held through the 2016 season (overseeing nine amateur drafts). Notable first-round picks during his tenure as director included Aaron Hicks (2008), Byron Buxton (2012), Kohl Stewart, Nick Gordon, and Tyler Jay.⁠

In December 2016 he moved to senior advisor of scouting, continuing to evaluate amateur, professional, international, and minor-league talent. He also worked as an advance scout for postseason series at times. The Twins parted ways with him in September 2026 after 32 years, eliminating the senior advisor position amid organizational changes.⁠

This new job with the Mets follows his departure from Minnesota and connects him with former Twins executive Derek Falvey’s orbit in New York.⁠ He is regarded as an experienced traditional talent evaluator with deep West Coast and amateur scouting roots.

MACK –

Is it a good move? Short answer is yes. Any addition of someone with this much experience will add to the draft brain trust.

Does me carry any weight under the Cohen/Stearns thumb? Short answer is, does anyone?

How successful was he in all those years with Minnesota? Short answer, not much. Johnson was with the Twins from 1994 to 2026. They never won the World Series once while he was with them (note… they won in 1991, 1987, and 1924 when they were the Washington Senators (Ray was their bat boy).

Still, it’s a good move.