Gallagher: R.I.P. Eddie Haas, former Expos scout

Former Montreal Expos scout Eddie Haas died on June 4 at the age of 91.

June 10, 2026

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

Eddie Haas played in 55 games in the majors but his true calling was coaching, managing, evaluating and scouting players after a short stint as manager of the Atlanta Braves.

When he went looking for prospects in the backfields of America and on high school fields and college diamonds, he didn't necessarily look for statistics. He looked at a prospect's character and fundamentals. He was keen on developing players for the majors after they were drafted.

It was Haas, who recommended the likes of Delino DeShields, Marquis Grissom, Cliff Floyd and Rondell White for the Expos. 

An account of Haas's life on memoritree.com called him a "legendary scout'' for the Expos. It was true. He was named the Expos scout of the year in 1988

Former Expos general manager Dan Duquette said in an interview today that Haas first started working for the Expos in 1986 not long after being let go as Braves' manager in 1985.  He worked as an amateur scout under Expos scouting director Gary Hughes and then as a pro scout under GM Bill Stoneman. 

Haas is being remembered for his 50+ years in baseball following his death at age 91 on June 4 in Kentucky.

When Dave Dombrowski took over as Expos GM from Stoneman, he kept Haas, who worked at one time under Paul Richards, the great Orioles GM and manager who penned the excellent book Modern Baseball Strategy. Haas followed Richards's thinking by becoming a strategist of his own.

"When Dave Dombrowski got the opportunity to go to Miami to start the Marlins, he took over 20 people with him from the Expos,'' Duquette told me. "However, I asked Eddie to stay and work with me. And he became my right-hand man, similar to Whitey Lockman’s job for Dombrowski.

"Eddie helped me manage all aspects of the baseball operations in scouting, development, roster management and construction and he was especially helpful in trades because he knew so many people in baseball. I developed a relationship with him as director of player development when he took an interest in developing the players he had a role in recommending. Eddie knew the farm system.

"Eddie stayed with the club through 1994 and then joined me with the Red Sox where he enjoyed a similar role to what we did in Montreal,'' Duquette added.

“When I was in Montreal, the general managers were Murray Cook, Bill Stoneman, Dave Domrowski and Dan Duquette so they had pretty good people running the place,’’ Haas told me in an interview in 2015 as he celebrated his 80th birthday.

Haas lived for years in Louisville where he got re-acquainted with DeShields, who at that time, was managing the Louisville Redbirds triple-A team. One day, Haas went to the ballpark to see DeShields, who was tutored a lot in the minors by Haas.

Of course, Bop remembered his teacher. Haas also recalled the time DeShields was introduced to the Louisville media.

“DeShields started talking about the Expos and what a great group of guys they were and how it was a lot of fun,” Haas told me. “I had to laugh because a reporter then asked, ‘But you got traded, what did you think of that?’”

Without missing a beat, DeShields elicited a few chuckles saying: “Well, I got traded for a guy who won three Cy Young awards.”

“I don’t suppose you know to remember Pedro Martinez?’’ Haas needled this reporter in 2015, of course, all in fun, talking about the guy acquired in exchange for DeShields.

“I was in on discussions for the two times Pedro was traded, first from the Dodgers and then from the Expos,’’ Haas revealed.

Haas also was in on a lot of conversations involving many Expos before they were drafted and when they were up for possible trade. In short, he was a special assignment scout for Duquette with the Expos and then the Red Sox.

“We had a lot of frank discussions about certain players,’’ Haas said.

Following the 1994 season, Haas left the Expos to work with Duquette in Boston and stayed with the Red Sox until 2003.

"Eddie had a great influence in baseball,'' Duquette said. "In fact, he recommended Brian Snitker for managing in the Braves' organization and he was also instrumental in the Red Sox acquiring Jason Varitek, Derek Lowe, Tim Wakefield and Pedro Martinez.''

One player Haas didn’t scout or recommend for the Expos was a Canadian, who was his favourite Expo.

"Larry Walker was already taken by the Expos before I went to work for them,’’ Haas said. “Walker had a good feel for the game. He had a lot of good ability and he played hard. You could see it when he went out there in the first inning.’’

Haas is survived by his daughter Kathy, baseball-scouting sons Matt (Orioles) and Danny (Tigers) and his sisters Charlotte and Mariette

"Eddie was one of a kind and we lost a good baseball man,'' Duquette said. “He had a career that spanned over 50 years and he was one of a few that played in the majors and managed in the big leagues.''