Allard Baird (; born November 8, 1961) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

executive, currently serving as an advisor for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

. He previously was the vice president and assistant

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

for scouting and player development for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

and held executive positions with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

(where was general manager from June 6, 2000 to May 31, 2006) and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Early years

Baird grew up in

Rochester, New Hampshire Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,492 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, 6th most populous city in New Hampshire. In ad ...

, where he played baseball for the Spaulding High School Red Raiders. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Southern Arkansas University Southern Arkansas University (SAU) is a public university in Magnolia, Arkansas, United States. The university had an enrollment of 5,100 undergraduate and graduate students as of fall 2023. History Southern Arkansas University was established ...

(SAU) in 1985, coached at SAU in 1986, and then was the head coach at Broward Community College in 1987. Baird was inducted to the SAU hall of fame in 2012.

Career

Kansas City Royals

Baird spent 18 years in the

organization, starting as the hitting coach for Class A Appleton of the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

in 1988. He worked his way up the executive ladder, including serving as an assistant to the GM (1998) and assistant GM (1999–2000). Baird replaced Herk Robinson as the Royals' general manager on June 17, 2000. Baird's job was a difficult one: taking a small-market, losing-record team and trying to compete against teams like the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. During his six full years as general manager, Baird traded away popular players Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltrán, and Jermaine Dye with many Royal fans feeling that the team didn't get equal value. He also signed free agent Juan González to a one-year, $4 million contract, but he played only 33 games due to a back injury. After a poor start to the 2006 season, Baird was fired on May 31 and replaced by Dayton Moore. During Baird's tenure, the team amassed a win–loss record of 381–576 (.398), including three 100-loss seasons and only one winning season (

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

). The Royals did lead MLB in hits for the season.

Boston Red Sox

Baird joined the

in 2006 as an assistant to the general manager after his firing in Kansas City, and later was named vice president and director of professional scouting. Baird later became the senior vice president of player personnel, serving under president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. The Red Sox won the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

three times during Baird's time with the team;

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

New York Mets

On November 28, 2018, Baird was hired by the

, to work for new general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. He performed that role until November 6, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Allard 1961 births Living people Baseball coaches from New Hampshire Boston Red Sox executives Kansas City Royals executives Kansas City Royals scouts Major League Baseball general managers New York Mets executives People from Rochester, New Hampshire Southern Arkansas Muleriders baseball players Sportspeople from Strafford County, New Hampshire Junior college baseball coaches in the United States College baseball coaches in Florida College baseball coaches in Arkansas