Dodgers’ Ismael Cruz wins Tony Gwynn Award

Cruz, who’s been with the Dodgers for nine years, won the Tony Gwynn Award, the Baseball America lifetime achievement award.

Dodgers vice president of international scouting Ismael Cruz this week won the Tony Gwynn Award at Baseball America, the publication’s lifetime achievement award.

Cruz has a quarter century of scouting experience. He joined the Dodgers nine years ago, after stints with the Expos/Nationals (2001-05), Mets (2006-11), and Blue Jays (2012-15).

Jose de Jesus Ortiz profiled Cruz at Baseball America, including this quote from Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman:

“In an area of the game where relationship building through trust and consistency is so important, I can’t think of anyone who has a better track record of doing that than Ish. His leadership has put us in a position to access the top talent around the world, not just in Latin America.

“For someone with as much experience as he has, I have a ton of respect for his openness to learning and improving, which allows us as an organization to keep progressing.”

Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider interviewed Cruz as well:

“If the award has the name Tony Gwynn, I can imagine that is very important,” Cruz told Osborne. “I remember him being a people’s person, a player who everybody likes. So the award reflects what he was like.”

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