What New York Mets Are Getting in New International Scouting Director

Find out what the New York Mets are getting in their new director of international scouting, who was hired at the end of the regular season.

Mar 26, 2022; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; The New York Mets logo stands in center field before the game against the Washington Nationals at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images / Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

Upon purchasing the New York Mets back in the fall of 2020, billionaire owner Steve Cohen said he wanted his organization to model the Los Angeles Dodgers as the east coast version of the current NL pennant winners.

Four years later, the Mets faced off against the Dodgers in the NLCS. Although they were defeated in six games, it was still a highly successful campaign for New York in a season that started off poorly with low expectations.

Prior to Cohen's first season of owning the team in 2021, the Mets hired Ben Zauzmer away from the Dodgers to lead their analytics department. They proceeded to promote Zauzmer to assistant GM ahead of the 2022 season.

This past September, the Mets hired another former Dodgers employee in James Kang, who will serve as their new director of international scouting.

Sources: The New York Mets named James Kang as their new Director of International Scouting.

Kang previously worked with the Padres, Red Sox, Dodgers and lastly Guardians where he was the Senior Player Acquisitions Scout.

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) September 30, 2024

Kang is highly regarded around the game, spending 2024 as a senior player acquisitions scout with the Cleveland Guardians, a team that went all the way to the ALCS where they fell to the Yankees in five games.

Before Cleveland, Kang worked for the Dodgers from January 2020 through December 2023 as an international cross checker, where he left his mark.

With the Dodgers, Kang was involved in signing a plethora of talented international prospects such as outfielder Josue De Paula (No. 2 in Dodgers' farm system), shortstop Joendry Vargas (No. 7) and outfielder Eduardo Quintero (No. 9).

Mets On SI recently spoke via text with two scouting figures that worked with Kang during his time with the Dodgers.

Here's their perspective on what the Mets are getting in Kang:

"Kang is the ultimate pro with a keen eye for talent. I call him the Will Smith (LHP) of front office employees, because 3 of the 4 teams in the CS he has worked for in the last three years," said current Dodgers pro scout Jack Murphy, who worked with Kang from 2020-2023.

"He’s a humble guy that can communicate with people across all different backgrounds and is a tireless worker. It’s not a mistake that he has been targeted by so many successful organizations over the past few years. I expect he is going to thrive in New York and help to continue to build upon what they are accomplishing right now. Huge addition for the Mets," Murphy added.

Minnesota Twins director of Latin American scouting, Roman Barinas, also had high praise for Kang, whom he worked with in the Dodgers' organization from 2020 through 2023 during his time as Latin America supervisor.

“James has great perspective. He’s done almost everything in this game. Great listener. Really good at creating a collaborative environment," Barinas said of Kang.

"Bitter sweet for me though, really happy he’s getting this opportunity but also the competition just got better!”

Before Cleveland and Los Angeles, Kang worked on the international scouting side for the Boston Red Sox from January 2015-January 2020. He began as a front office intern with the San Diego Padres in 2014 following his professional playing career as an infielder in the Red Sox minor league system (2010-2012).

Kang is replacing Steve Barningham, who served as Mets director of international scouting from January 2021 to August 2024. Barningham worked in various scouting roles across 21 years in the organization.