Rizzo surprised about Brown's departure

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said he was surprised that Dana Brown left as the team's scouting director to become a special assistant to the general manager with the Blue Jays.

Before he gave permission to the Blue Jays, Rizzo wanted to make sure the position Brown was interested in was an upgrade from being a scouting director, and it was. Brown will help Toronto with the First-Year Player Draft and trades.

"Because it was a upward move for him, it will be a new challenge for Dana and he is working for a person [GM Alexander Anthopoulos] he is very comfortable with," Rizzo said. "Although it was a surprise, we were not going to stand in his way. Once Dana accepted the job with the Blue Jays, it was a very easy decision to elevate Kris [Kline] to director of scouting."