Gallagher: Kent remembers Morgan, Canadian scout who signed him

Former Toronto Blue Jays infielder and 2026 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Kent was scouted and signed by Canadian scout Wayne Morgan (Saskatoon, Sask.).

February 18, 2026

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

Jeff Kent knows what scouts like the late Wayne Morgan go through to find a player, the effort they put in, the miles they travel around the U.S. and Canada.

Kent was speaking to this reporter today upon hearing about the Feb. 12 passing of Morgan, his Blue Jays' signing scout, the first signee of Morgan to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Kent appreciated the fact Morgan (Saskatoon, Sask.) saw something in him and believed in him. With help from fellow scouts John Cole and David Blume, Morgan paved the way for Kent to sign a Jays' contract.

"Wayne was a nice guy, genuine, trustworthy and very knowledgeable. I came from an ignorant background, relying on a lot of people for information. He gave me all of his information about the draft, the process and the Blue Jays. There was no question he was knowledgeable.''

Before he died, Morgan had told me he saw Kent play once at Berkeley, but Cole and Blume also watched him for several games.

"I remember vividly on the second day of the draft, a scout from the Blue Jays coming to my house with a local scout from southern California and sitting at the table in the dining room,'' Kent said in an interview. "I'd never had any prior conversations with them prior to the draft.''

Kent told me his place in the draft diminished when he hurt one of his hands when he was hit by a pitch in the second half of the 1989 season while playing for Berkeley.

"Before the year started, I was projected to go in the first 5-7 rounds but when I hurt my hand and when that happened, I couldn't play the rest of the season and when I didn't get picked that first day, I was really disappointed,'' he told me. 

"When I didn't get a call, I didn't think anything was in the works. When I didn't get picked that first day, I thought my chances of getting picked might be zero.''

Then the Blue Jays came along and drafted him in the 20th round and gave him what he said was a signing bonus of $10,000 ("it wasn't much''), not the $25,000 as reported earlier by Morgan.

"I'd never heard of Jeff Kent,'' Morgan told me two months before he died. "I saw him once. I went to the Berkeley game to see a pitcher, not Kent. Nobody else was interested in him. The other scouts were watching that pitcher, not Kent. Kent put on a great show with a lot of power to show what he was all about.

"Kent was a freshman and I was very impressed. He had a pretty good arm. I saw a lot of potential. He ran below average and had below average range so, to me, he profiled as a third baseman. He wasn't very big but he was athletic. He had a lot of ability.''

When I ran Morgan's assessment by Kent, he replied in eloquent fashion, "He was probably spot on. A lot of scouts go around the country, spend so many hours watching players and taking pride in seeing somebody with talent, the mental makeup of players they sign, their willingness to be dedicated to the game. One thing, scouts don't get to see is the character of the player, can he handle the pressure, can he be smart enough on the field is he has no range. The intangibles are added to the physical talent. It runs deeper than if he can run and hit and throw.There's the makeup of a player.''

Kent started his pro career in St. Catharines, Ont. and got his first taste in the majors with Toronto in 1992, the year he was traded to the Mets for David Cone.

"When I got drafted, my impression was.'Blue Jays? Where are the Blue Jays? Where did they play?' I wasn't a big baseball fan. There was no internet in those days, no cellphones.''

Kent is thankful Morgan and the Jays came along because if they hadn't, he likely would have completed his education at Berkeley and possibly become a police officer like his dad.

That Cooperstown induction ceremony in July for Kent will be special. It's sad Morgan won't be there.