Scout school under way
in Phoenix
Largest-ever class takes part in annual event
in
By Christie
Cowles / MLB.com
Although
Major League Baseball's regular season is close to wrapping up and the Minor
League Baseball season has come to a close, there is still plenty of baseball
activity going on around the country.
In
The school is conducted
annually in
"I wanted to design
this school so that the individual that enters the professional scouting field
will not have that fearful feeling of not knowing what to do," Pries said.
"We point them in the right direction, and that's important. We've had
many that have gone on to become assistant scouting directors, scouting
directors, national cross-checkers -- because of the early foundation in
learning the right way [to scout]."
Pries, 79, has been
involved in baseball, in many capacities, for 62 years. He has enjoyed all of
his experiences in the game -- from playing in the Minor Leagues to managing,
scouting, working in player development and working as an assistant to a
general manager, all the way up to his scouting bureau days -- and is happy to
see the results of the scout school.
"The baseball world
has realized the importance of this program and how we have contributed to the
baseball industry as of a result of it," Pries said. "Our reputation
is very, very good. Once you have a reputation of doing it right, then your
classes will grow -- and our classes have grown and grown and grown."
Pries credits current
Scouting Bureau director Frank Marcos and his staff for the success and growth
of the scout school program. About 650 students have graduated from the program
over the years, and about 75 percent of current scouts have attended the scout
school.
Each day during the
two-week period the students receive instruction as a group and in smaller
breakout sessions at their hotel in the morning. Then they travel to a local
ballpark to watch an Instructional League game, which includes Minor League
players of all levels. They are assigned certain players to evaluate, but must
keep tabs on all of the players in that day's game. Then the students come back
to the hotel to write up their reports and to receive feedback on their
evaluations of the players. The process starts all over again the next day,
with new players to evaluate in different locations.
This intensive process
gives the students a great opportunity to learn by doing, and to receive
positive feedback from the school's instructors, which are all employees of the
MLB Scouting Bureau. At the current camp, 13 instructors were on hand to guide
the students. Each instructor has four students, so they each have plenty of
one-on-one time with an experienced scout throughout the day, which provides
invaluable information to these appreciative, budding scouts.
The students learn the
"recipe" for scouting -- which includes categories for evaluation of
hitting and fielding skills, running speed, arm strength and power at the plate
for position players. For pitchers, this includes an evaluation of their
fastball, curve and slider.
Many intangible
qualities are evaluated as well, such as the players' poise, confidence,
attitude, mental toughness and mound presence. It could even be things as
simple as how well he works with his teammates, and how much he seems to enjoy
playing the game. All of these characteristics work together in the evaluation
of a player.
The students learn to
judge skills and qualities of players on a scale of two to eight, with two
being poor and eight being excellent. A score of five is categorized as how an
average Major Leaguer would perform, so if the prospect doesn't perform as well
as the average Major Leaguer on a particular skill, they must be rated lower
than a five.
Most of all, it's
important that the scouts be honest and decisive in their rating of players.
One of the instructors told his students, "No fluff, just tell it like it
is."
The students learn how
to describe all of these skills and qualities in succinct, picture-painting
words. After observing the players, boiling all of this information down into a
report is often the toughest part of the process. This is also one of the most
important tasks, as the reports, along with scouting video, are what the club
officials rely on for an accurate representation of the potential players'
skills.
To participate in scout
school, those interested must be sponsored by a Major League club. The clubs
will select a student and recommend that person to the Scouting Bureau.
Oftentimes the person is a former player or someone who works in the club's
front office -- many times in a player development role -- but they could come
from any number of departments.
The key is that the
person is either interested in getting into scouting or they are interested in
learning how scouts go about their day-to-day business. The scout school helps
front office personnel to understand how players are evaluated and on what basis, and it helps them to communicate more effectively
with their clubs' scouts.
Ken Griffey Sr., who is
a special consultant to Cincinnati Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky, decided
to enroll in scout school because he wanted to better understand the evaluation
process for prospective players. While he is able to assess players' talent through
observing their play, he wanted to learn the nuts and bolts of the scouting
process.
"It's a big bonus
to be out here just to learn the basics and the fundamentals of scouting,"
Griffey said. "Learning it all in one [class], it's starting to make sense
to me. Now it's a formula that they use and with the formula, I'm starting to
understand what it's all about.
"In order for
anyone to be taught how to scout, to me this is the best way to go,"
Griffey said. "First of all, [when I get back] I'm calling Wayne Krisky,
and I'm going to tell him the best thing is to send some people here to learn
-- that will be important for our [Cincinnati Reds] organization, because over
the years we haven't had the abundance of scouts to scout people."
Understanding how
players are evaluated can help the player development personnel provide
feedback to club officials when they are targeting players for the draft or for
potential trades with other clubs.
Bryn Alderson, who is
the coordinator of scouting for the Oakland Athletics and son of San Diego
Padres CEO Sandy Alderson, said he wanted to participate in scout school to
broaden his skills in player evaluation and receive a formal education in
scouting.
"I haven't really
learned the basics in evaluating talent with my own eyes, and I think that's a
really important fundamental aspect," Alderson said. "[After the
class] I hope to be able to watch a game and report on what I see, have some
credibility with the scouts in draft room, maybe go out and scout some of the guys
we're looking at in the draft -- try to get a firsthand look and assess what I
see correctly."
Christie Cowles is a reporter for
MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or
its clubs.