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CHICAGO -- When Jason McLeod and Theo Epstein were both in the Padres' organization, they would make frequent road trips. They drove to Lake Elsinore, Calif., to watch a Minor League game, or the University of Southern California to see Pac-10 talent. Often, they'd check out San Diego high school prospects, such as Adrian Gonzalez."We were always talking about what we would do in this scenario or fantasyfootball that scenario," McLeod said. "It became quickly apparent that [Epstein's] intelligence level was way different than anyone else. He could sit in any crowd, have a conversation in any crowd, and make anyone feel important, and that he was part of that crowd. He has a special way of doing that."McLeod and Epstein went from San Diego to Boston, and on Tuesday, they were reunited again as McLeod join fantasyfootball ed the Cubs as the head of scouting and player development. Epstein, named president of baseball operations last week, also plucked Padres general manager Jed Hoyer, who was his right-hand man in Boston."The three of us believe in the same things, and that's going to be the key to this whole operation -- building that scouting and player development machine," said Hoyer, who is the Cubs' 14th GM.M fantasyfootball cLeod, who turns 40 this month, and Epstein, who will be 38 in December, quickly developed a good working relationship. When they met in San Diego, McLeod worked in stadium operations and Epstein was a media relations assistant.They hung out together, talked baseball, discussed prospects. They were passionate about the game and both eventually made it to the baseball operations side. Kevin Towers, fantasyfootball then the Padres' GM, nurtured the two. He included them in meetings, in the Draft room."We got chewed out a few times by some grizzly veterans," McLeod said. "Ted Simmons used to chew our tails all the time, but we learned a lot."McLeod remembers a lunch with Towers and Epstein in September 2001 when they asked him to become an area scout.#pollContainer{display:none}.twoColumnPoll{width:49%;float fantasyfootball :left}.twoColumnPoll div{float:left;margin-left:2px;}.twoColumnPoll .pollResultText{width:68%;}.twoColumnDivider{border-right:1px solid #a5a5a5;}.noResults {text-align:center; padding:8px}.submitButton{cursor:pointer}.waitCursor{cursor:wait}bam.loadSync("/shared/scripts/bam/bam.poll.js");$(function() {var poll_PGEwoSTPYNHquZC5YC52aftydt80 = new bam.poll.Poll({key:"PGEwoSTPYNHquZC5YC52aftydt80", // fantasyfootball campaign idshowResults:"yes", // yes | nocustomSuccess:"", // URIsubmitImg:"",buttonText:"Vote >",sortOrder:"ascending", // ascending | descendingsortType:"text", // text | number | last-namesortResultsByCount:"yes", // yes | noresultType:"percent", // percent | countshowTotalVotes:"no", // yes | nocolumns:"1", // 1 | 2resultsText:"Results delayed up to 5 minutes.", // default results textcallbac fantasyfootball k:null, // function resultsCallback:null // function});poll_PGEwoSTPYNHquZC5YC52aftydt80.init();});"It's the best thing that ever happened to me," McLeod said. "It changed the course of my professional career for sure, and I loved it from day one and haven't looked back since."During his first stint with the Padres from 1994-2003, McLeod advanced to become assistant director of scouting and player fantasyfootball development. He joined Epstein and the Red Sox as the director of amateur scouting prior to '04. His first Draft produced Dustin Pedroia, who would eventually become the '07 American League Rookie of the Year and '08 AL Most Valuable Player. McLeod spent six years in the Red Sox's scouting department before returning to the Padres in 2009 when Hoyer was named GM.Now, McLeod will be given the chan fantasyfootball ce to upgrade the Cubs' system. As far as he's concerned, the two most important days of the year are Draft day in June and international signing day.Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken will stay on. McLeod admitted it took him a few years before he had the courage to talk to Wilken, who spent 25 seasons in the Blue Jays' organization and three with the Rays before joining the Cubs in December 2005. fantasyfootball "He's someone I admire greatly and look forward to working with," McLeod said.This year, the Cubs were aggressive in the Draft, something both Epstein and McLeod noticed."We'd been aggressive in San Diego," McLeod said. "This year, as the Draft was unfolding, we all knew [second-round pick Dan] Vogelbach and had an idea of what he would cost ... and when they took Dillon Maples [in the 14th round] fantasyfootball we were saying, 'Wow, they're really turning things around this year and they're going to spend money.' It shows the Ricketts family is committed to building up the farm system."The lack of depth in the Cubs' farm system became apparent early this year when the team lost starting pitchers Andrew Cashner and Randy Wells after the first week, and it had a difficult time finding replacements.McLeod fantasyfootball will go to Arizona next week to see some of the Cubs' prospects playing in the Arizona Fall League. The team has postponed its organizational meetings until prior to Spring Training."There's no point in having an organizational meeting if we're still learning peoples' names," Hoyer said.Who will run the Draft is to be determined. McLeod wants to meet with Wilken and vice president of player person fantasyfootball nel Oneri Fleita to discuss the best way to structure the department.When he was 12, McLeod remembers charting pitches by the Padres during the 1984 National League Championship Series. He just picked up a legal pad and started doing it. Steve Garvey played for San Diego then. This year, McLeod scouted Garvey's son in a game.The Cubs can use another set of eyes. They are missing the "impact, upsid fantasyfootball e players" in the Minor League system, McLeod said. Give him time. He hopes to fix that. fantasyfootball
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