Go44dad posted:hshuler posted:old_school posted:hshuler posted:old_school posted:hshuler posted:old_school posted:analytics are huge and will grow in importance. That being said they won't replace people IMO. The best teams still have the intangibles, guys who work together and are teammates. The organizations who ultimately are going to be most successful will be the ones who blend the new data, with old tried and true successful models and then mold those assets in a productive fashion...
I think what TPM said is the key. Those who embrace analytics and learn how to effectively use them will stick. Those who refuse to accept that they provide valuable information will have to find a new profession.
with all due respect, no that isn't what was said, what was said is quoted below. I agree electronic stats are important and I totally disagreed they were going to replace people. Typically I don't believe in blanket statements like these.
"Scouting is going to be a thing of the past. It's all about Track man.
One unnamed organization just let 10 scouts go. No need anymore, it's all about electronic stats. The hiring is in those that can read and interpret the stats."
Fair enough, no disrespect taken.
Here’s a direct quote from a former scout on the topic: “non baseball people doing baseball things” I guess I should have said “those who refuse to embrace analytics could be replaced by those who do.”
I know a few ‘old school’ scouts for lack of a better term, including my former college coach. I firmly believe that the best/most successful scouts can see things that others don’t. I also believe that particular data points can tell a part of the story. I don’t know what analytics will do to the scouting community but I’ve been told that it will have a negative impact on those who don’t embrace it. Again, this is someone’s opinion (albeit someone with lots of credibility in the baseball world) and obviously, they could be wrong.
I think you are close to spot on there, old school will have to embrace it to some degree and some of the numbers of scouts may well go down (full disclosure I have done a tremendous amount of work in automation so I fully understand the work force scale back) but players are found all over the world and in all shapes and sizes... numbers don't give heart, scouts always will be important IMO and they may need to use modified methods of how they evaluate...but they still will ultimately be critical to the process.
To your point, the one thing that this gentlemen talked about a lot was “makeup.” Ironically, he talked at length about two specific players currently playing in the World Series.
Data points only provide part of the story and I believe this is why PGStaff said that many teams send their entire scouting departments. There are things that numbers can’t measure so I agree, human intuition and things that can only be seen through human perception will never be eliminated from the process.
Altuve and Bregman!
Altuve and Correa?
Correa and Altuve. You’re such a homer! LoL
He talked at length about Correa and how he had a particularly bad showcase once but it was just a small sampling.
He also said that they were so sure that Correa would drop to them that they weren’t really prepared to select anyone else. That’s how sure they were that they were getting him. He said that when their guy said “they just took Correa” it was dead silence for about five minutes in their draft room.