In 1989, LaCava was hired by the California Angels as a scout, where he remained for 10 years.[5] In 2000, he joined the Atlanta Braves as their national scouting supervisor.[5] Later that year LaCava joined the Montreal Expos as director of player development. While working with the Expos, LaCava became acquainted with advanced metrics through contact with Baseball Prospectus writers. As a result, he used advanced stats like xFIP and BABIP in his analysis of a player.[6] He joined the Cleveland Indians in 2002 as a national crosschecker.[7]
In the fall of 2002, the Toronto Blue Jays named him as an assistant to the general manager, then J. P. Ricciardi. He was moved up to assistant GM in October 2007. Alex Anthopoulos also made LaCava the director of player development in 2009.[8] LaCava was considered a candidate to become GM for the Baltimore Orioles,[9] but turned down their offer in order to stay with the Blue Jays.[10]
After the 2015 season, Anthopoulous opted not to remain with the Blue Jays. On November 2, 2015, LaCava was named the Blue Jays' vice president of baseball operations and interim general manager by new team president Mark Shapiro.[7][11] Shapiro hired Ross Atkins as the permanent general manager on December 3, 2015,[12] and LaCava was promoted to senior vice president of baseball operations and assistant general manager.[13]