He then joined the Tigers organization in 1969 as a member of the scouting department. By 1979 he was named the assistant general manager to Tigers GM Jim Campbell. During his time as GM, Lajoie is credited with several transactions that helped the Tigers to the 1984 World Series championship and a 1987 division title. Notable transactions include signing aging veteran Darrell Evans in 1984; trading John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander in 1987, and Kirk Gibson's departure as a free agent following the 1987 season. While ridiculed by Detroit fans now, the Smoltz trade helped the Tigers make the playoffs in 1987, as Alexander posted 9 wins and 0 losses in 11 starts, with a 1.53 earned run average. Smoltz, at the time, was a lightly regarded prospect in the low minor leagues. After an internal power struggle in 1990 (the Tigers had hired Bo Schembechler as team president), Lajoie resigned was replaced as Tigers GM by his assistant, Joe McDonald.[1]
Lajoie played a high-profile consulting role in the Boston front office during the brief interregnum between November 2005 and February 2006 caused by the temporary resignation of Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. He was the senior baseball official, under president/CEO Larry Lucchino, with the Red Sox delegation to the 2005 winter baseball meetings and was instrumental in the multi-player trade with the Florida Marlins that netted pitcherJosh Beckett and third basemanMike Lowell; both were key figures in the club's 2007world championship. A few days later, he traded Red Sox starting shortstop Édgar Rentería to the Atlanta Braves for third baseman prospect Andy Marte.[2] However, upon Epstein's return, Lajoie resigned, and a few weeks later became a top advisor to Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti. He joined Pittsburgh in a similar role in June 2009, assisting GM Neal Huntington.[3]
In 1988, Lajoie was honored with a distinguished alumni award from the Western Michigan University Alumni Association.
