The Yankees have found their new international scouting director.
Mario Garza, entering his 16th season with the organization, will take over the role, a source confirmed to the Daily News on Tuesday. The YES Network’s Jack Curry first reported the decision.
Garza spent the past two seasons as the Yankees’ director of baseball development. Prior to that, he spent four seasons as a baseball development coordinator (2020-2023), three seasons as the director of Latin American operations (2017-19) and two seasons as the assistant director of international player development (2015-16). Before that, he managed and coached with a few of the Yankees’ lower-level minor league affiliates.
A 25th-round pick in 2003, he spent four seasons playing in the Astros’ farm system.
Garza was one of a few known candidates to interview for the Yankees’ international scouting director position, which was vacated by Donny Rowland earlier this offseason. A source previously told The News that Oz Ocampo, a former Marlins and Astros scouting exec turned Rice University professor, and Matt Slater, the Cardinals’ special assistant to the general manager for player procurement, were also looked at.
Ultimately, the Yankees went with an internal option after Rowland spent 15 years at the helm. He was not retained when his contract expired at the end of the season after years of awarding high-priced bonuses to more than a few amateur international free agents (IFA) who did not pan out, particularly in Latin America.
Brian Cashman called it a “difficult decision” to move on from Rowland earlier this offseason, and two sources told The News that the former director’s exit came down to poor performance.
The Yankees also parted with Edgar Mateo in December. He served as an assistant to Rowland for Latin American scouting.
Prior to Garza’s hiring, a source told The News that the Yankees had not parted with any other members of their international scouting department.
Garza’s appointment also follows the collapse of a few agreements the Yankees had with highly-touted IFAs. Most notably, Wandy Asigen, a 16-year-old Dominican shortstop ranked second in the IFA Class of 2026, backed out of a deal before signing with the Mets for $3.9 million when the new international signing period opened on Jan. 15. More recently, 2027 Dominican infield prospect Mairon De La Rosa reportedly agreed to a $3.8 million deal with the Mariners after previously having a deal in place with the Yankees.
With the Yankees not seeing eye-to-eye with evaluations and investments that were originally made under Rowland’s watch, a few other deals have fallen through. That has led to some speculation that the Yankees could struggle with future IFA classes, as relationships are built with academies, trainers and players years before the latter are eligible to sign.
However, sources who previously spoke to The News downplayed such concerns.
“[When] new leadership comes in, and with Cash’s backing, I think that people will realize that that just happened the one time,” one person said. “It’s not where you’re going to be consistently considered a team that’s going to pull the rug out from under you unless there was a proper reason.”
Despite some turnover and a lengthy search for a new director, the Yankees have signed 14 IFAs since the 2026 signing period opened. However, they did not sign anyone included in MLB Pipeline’s top-50 list.
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