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

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