The great scouts are the ones that
can dig down in the draft and project on a player like John
Smoltz drafted in the 22nd round by the Tigers or a Bret Saberhagen
drafted in the 19th round with the Kansas City Royals. Then there was Tom
Seaver that was drafted in the 10th round by the Dodgers and Nolan Ryan
drafted in the 12th round by the Mets. Lets not forget Jack Clark
who was drafted as a pitcher in the 13th round with the Giants and went on
to hit 340 Homeruns in the Major Leagues. Another example is Trevor Hoffman
who was drafted as a shortstop out of the University of Arizona in the 11th
round with the Reds. He is certain to be a future Hall of Famer as one of
the All-Time closers in baseball. The list goes on and on from Mike Piazza
in the 62nd round, in 1988 with the Dodgers who converted from the outfield
to catcher and Orel Hershiser drafted in the 17th round with the Dodgers and
the list goes on and on.
As any successful scout will tell you, it isn't an absolute science, but all
the great scouts will tell you it is about being able to project on players and
envision what they may be in the future. Some Scouts have it and many don't,
and it is truly a gift that has been passed down to those who can pass the
baton forward. Today's game is much different than it was in the Mid-90's,
as it is going back to some of the basics, athleticism, running, throwing
while measuring some of the intangibles such as the makeup of the kids. The
biggest difference today is you can use the internet to help see where
they have played and in some cases, see video, and also see other information
that has been posted via many different internet venues. Though to be sure it
takes that personal interaction with the player to define them.
Truly, it is different depending on if you
are evaluating high school/collegiate talent, minor leagues, or major league
talent. That is what separates the elite scouts. Evaluating high school talent
can be very tricky, projecting on players current and future potential. The
great ones get it right more than they miss. They can project and see that
third baseman/shortstop that may need to be moved to catcher or pitcher as an
example. Maybe the kid that isn't playing and may not be as physical as the
current player playing, but what will he be two years from now. All players
mature at a different level and time. Unfortunately, for teams to find those
scouts it is very
difficult. We may never again see the great Area Scouts that we saw in 50's
through the early 90's that signed so many great players, such as George Genovese,
Jesse
Flores, Joe
Stephenson,
Ross “Rosey” Gilhousen, Tom
Greenwade, Howie Haak,
Roger
Jongewaard and many others
too. Today, these great scouts are being elevated to positions across
the organizations to have a bigger impact for each Major League
Team.
written by:
Robbie Henderson
Thank you for reading this
article!
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