Rene Gayo

From BR Bullpen

Rene Andres Gayo

Bats Right, Throws Right

School St. Mary's University
High School Gordon Technical High School

Born September 21, 1962 in Miami, FL USA

Rene Gayo has directed Latin American scouting operations for two different teams.

Gayo was the son of Cuban immigrants, born in Miami and raised in Chicago. He played some hockey as a youth in addition to baseball. He earned a degree in economics from St. Mary's University. A catcher, he played for the 1987 GCL Reds, going 5 for 30 with 2 walks and no extra-base hits in 12 games. He had two knee surgeries and did not return to the diamond as a player. He worked briefly as a representative for a bottling company.

In 1989, Cam Bonifay hired Gayo as a part-time scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates in Texas and Louisiana. He later scouted for the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians. After the Indians fell in 1998 to the New York Yankees and Orlando Hernandez, John Hart decided to reorganize the team's Latin American operations, eventually settling on Gayo, despite his never having been to the Caribbean before.

Gayo became scouting director for the Indians in Latin America in 1999. He helped sign Fausto Carmona, Jhonny Peralta, Danys Baez, Willy Taveras and Rafael Perez. In 2004, the Pirates hired Gayo to lead their Latin American scouting system, filling a position inexplicably left vacant for five years under Bonifay and Dave Littlefield.