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In a previous post "Another Draftibility Question" I asked about the effect of not participating in Fall events and this list is one of the reasons that I asked the question. If a player attended a TeamOne summer showcase and was ranked in the Top 10 of that event, but doesn't appear on their Top 200, has he taken himself out of the loop? There are players on this list that ranked below him at the same summer event, yet he is not on it. How important is this list to MLB scouts?
If the MLB teams drafted by lists they would not need the Scouting Bureau or their own scouting force

You decide for yourself how important they are!!!!


As per your question of taking oneself off the list--- there are many events with many Top 10 listings--the top ten at one event may not be as strong as the top ten at another event-- thus if all the top tens are taken into account it is possible that a ten ten player from one event does not get listed in the overall listing

TRhit
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SouthPawsMom ...

This may be a silly question, but are you a subscriber to their reports? If not, you can't read the top 200 list.

If you are not a subscriber, but are interested in a particular player, send me a PM with the player's name, state, and school, and I will check my list for you.


H-mom
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We learn a lot from crayons:
some are sharp; some are dull; some are pretty;
some have weird names; all are different colors.
And they all have to learn to live in the same box.
TR Hit...

I have to agree with you on this thought stream...

"To all you Folks out there in the HSBBW:
...while it may seem iportant to "baseball people" where your son(s) are ranked...only you, and the boys really care about this sort of stuff.

Several years ago, I had the social circumstance of meeting an Owner of a National League Team.

Due to the fact that this was not a "Baseball" function, but a charitable fundraiser, we kept the chit-chat on baseball to a minimium. However, the MOST telling thing which he said was:
"John, this is not only a business, but an industry. The LAST thing any GM wants is for the 'other guy' to know what we really think about ANY player in whom we have a genuine interest"

Ultimeately, the draft is the only real "ranking" which means ANYTHING.
The rest,or so I've been told, is superfluous.

When dealing in what is essentially an "unregulated securities market" (see congressonl anti-trust exemption).
Nothing is, as what it may appear to be...

Play ball...
Can't say that I agree 100% with the statement that "the only ranking that matters is the pro draft". Many kids do not get drafted or do not get drafted highly because of signability issues. But I also think that a ranking is fine for your resume or looks good in the school write-up of their signees but probably doesn't do much beyond that..
I respectfully disagree with those who think rankings don't mean anything to college coaches and MLB clubs. In fact, rankings mean a lot more than what even we anticipated.

#1 - Because the rankings come out several times each year and are seen by so many people,they have a way of monitering themselves. If we have a top player left off a state list, we are corrected many times by those who might know that area well. In the end the rankings become very accurate as proven out by the results of the draft.

#2 - We know of some MLB Scouting Directors that order their scouts to check out each and every player we rank in their territory. While we may be wrong, can MLB clubs ignore seeing ranked players. This can be proven by the number of first time ranked players and the amount of interest they get almost immediately following their name appearing in the rankings.

#3 - While it may not insure a player being drafted or receiving a big college offer (that will always be determined by the college or MLB club) It absolutely puts players on a short list of follows. The number of phone calls we take from scouts and college coaches, asking questions about ranked players, again proves this correct.

In the end, you can succeed by not being a ranked player (nobody has them all listed) and you can fail despite being highly ranked. However being a highly ranked player is going to get you every opportunity possible. It absolutely eliminates being missed, or overlooked.

Furthermore, it takes and endless amount of time, effort and money to classify and rank players nationally. I'd hate to think we are no more than entertainment for parents and players. Perfect... NO! Good at what we do... YES. Excuse me if that sounds like bragging.
The conversation is focused on different levels of "good" rankings. No comment on that.

However, consider the other angle - The flip side - a "bad" ranking can hurt you dearly IMO.

Accurate or not - it can hurt. Thats why you better be in the best of shape when you go to the high profile events.
Either you deal with it the best you can - or you take up volleyball or ping pong IMO.
My feelings about organizations like PG and Team One that rank players is that the best service they provide by far is the quality of the showcases/events they put on and run. They are top quality and the exposure experiance is second to none. I could see where a college program could get interested in players that are not in their region by reading these reports and then following up on them if they choose. I would have to believe most of the pro guys probably get their info first hand as they have lots of guys in the field all over. Rankings are still subjective and may or may not be based on seeing a player very often or maybe not at all in a season. Still,a ranking coming from an organization such as PG does make a player feel pretty good. a
I think I have to agree with PGStaff. I saw one or two scouts at our son's high school games last year. True, he was a junior, but I don't think that many people knew about him either.

Then, he went to some PG and other events this summer and by the end of the summer was ranked high on the PG and T1 lists. Now, scouts are calling the house all the time...want to meet, questionnaires, psychological tests, etc...

Why did they start calling? Could be a lot of things including word-of-mouth and some of the events they saw him at this past summer. But the amount of attention he is getting leads me to believe that the lists have at least something to do with it too.

Ultimately, they (like the colleges) will make their own assessment based on evaluating him this coming Spring, but SOMETHING put him on their radar screens. And it wasn't the high school he plays at.

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I would certainly agree with PGStaff. I think being ranked is very important. You would think that college recruiters and scouts would look at ranked players. I think they are ranked for a reason, and that being they are probably pretty good ball players. Not the end all be all, and nothing is an exact science. But being ranked can't hurt. Just my opinion.
Just remember, for every big time high ranked player - there are 100 "small" time low ranked players that have the same heart and desire. And then there are some guys that arent even on the radar screen. The top organizations - like PG - help you get there. That didnt exist for the most part 10 years ago. And definitely not 20 years ago.
You young guys should be grateful that organizations like PG exist.

But dont get too hung up on the rankings - unless you are a top rounder IMO. Just play the game, work hard and enjoy yourself. If you get ranked thats great. But it goes really fast for MOST - and then - its gone. Just like that.

Stay focused on the game and what you need to do to become a better player and a better role model for the younger guys behind you - regardless of what level you play at.
All true, but it seems that the days are almost gone when a high school coach was your most important conduit to the college recruiters. I see a lot of very good high school players in our area that don't get recruited, in part, because they didn't go to the events.

Maybe PG saw a void and filled it, but it is the way its done, for the most part, now. And that means they (and others) may have redefined the process. Much more like basketball recruiting now.
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In some ways I have to agree with "itsinthegame". And I sure do think the advice in his last post is great. Much better than his earlier post saying to go play volleyball or ping pong (LOL) if you get a bad ranking.

Truth be known, I don't like to do rankings. Much for the reasons everyone talks about in these posts. I do think there's a giant advantage in being ranked. I don't think being unranked is a big disadvantage though. If we were right about every player listed on our top 400, which we are not, there's still yet another 200-300 that get drafted each year. There's even a much larger number going to college programs.

Here's what I don't care for. Lets say someone was to ask you what are your favorite 400 songs. Well you might be able to name 400 songs that you like, but think how hard it would be to put them in exact order of how much you liked them.

Ranking players is much the same. The first 20 or so are easy. Then the further you go down the list the more difficult it becomes. I often ask myself, "what's the difference between this player we have ranked #130 and this player we have #180"? The difference is nearly nothing, both are about the same prospect. Sometimes #180 turns out to be better than #130. Sometimes the unranked player becomes better than both.

So I have to agree that there is nothing scientific about player rankings. Everyone knows that and whether it's our rankings or The MLB Scouting Bureau's... mistakes are and always will be made.

That said, my original post referred to the comment that these rankings don't mean a thing to anyone but the player and his parents. I really don't think some people know just how important these rankings are. There have been many days when I wish they weren't so important.

I've always been half tempted to include some bad player real high in the rankings and give him a great report. While the scouting activity that follows might prove a point, the result would be unfair to the player and put us out of the ranking business. We can afford to be wrong, but we can not afford to mislead or lie to scouts and college coaches.

Our staff has lots of professional scouting and college recruiting experience. We see more top high school players than any organization in baseball. That includes the MLB clubs or the MLB Scouting Bureau. Many of these organizations are well aware of that. Scouts and coaches know the information we put out is pretty solid. Not perfect, just real good! Good enough to seriously follow up on the list.
quote:
Originally posted by PGStaff:
In some ways I have to agree with "itsinthegame". And I sure do think the advice in his last post is great. Much better than his earlier post saying to go play volleyball or ping pong (LOL) if you get a bad ranking.




PGstaff,

I did not say that you should go "play volleyball or ping pong if you get a bad ranking." That is a GROSS distortion of my post.

The last thing I need here is to have you guys hacking at me too. LOL.

So much for this topic.
After reading this thread again - I think my last post was way too short LOL - and hopefully this will help explain my perspective more clearly.

The point I was attempting (poorly) to make was simply this:

A player needs to be in top shape when he attends premier events - such as PG's events. If a player is not in top shape and/or if a player gets a rating that he doesnt agree with - I would recommend that the player look at his own preparedness and relative skills.
I would not recommend that the player blame the rating organization or the "system". I also think that players today should be grateful that they have this type of service available to them.

I can understand why PG may get a bit touchy whenever this subject comes up. It is a very difficult endeavor IMO to rank players - and they do a remarkable (and IMO very accurate) job. I guess they also get a fair amount of criticism as well.

After having paid very close attention to this subject in NY State the last few years - and PG's continuing development of the rating system - my advice to the kids and the parents remains the same as in my first post.

Prepare yourself well, look at yourself objectively if you are not pleased with your results and dont blame a poor rating on others.
Just work hard to get better.

If you arent ready to do these things - then yes -ping pong may be the game for you. LOL

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grateful,

Obviously it helps when we see a player at our events, but it is not neccessary in order to get ranked.

A large number of the very best players do attend PG events. (34 1st rounders and close to 800 draft picks over the last two years) That may make it look like a player has to attend. Many are ranked before they ever attend PG events. Obviously we try to get those prospects to our stuff.

All that's required to make the list is to be very talented and that we see that somewhere.
PGStaff,
I am thinking about sending my son to your showcase in Nyack in Dec. He is a pitcher.. what do pitchers do at your showcases? Also, how many and what college coachs and scouts attend your showcases? Are there DII coaches there? My son is a good player and was choosen 1ST team Section 9 and 3RD team all state as a junior last year so I have to get him in "The Rankings" I guess.
The event in Nyack is a first for us. It's an indoor ID camp for the purpose of identifying talented players. It's real hard to predict the number of people who will be there.

I'm confused with your question about what pitchers do. If you want to know, how much they pitch: They warm up and then throw enough for us to see everything we need to see in order to grade them.

As I mentioned, I'm not sure how many scouts or college coaches will be at Nyack next month as it is an ID camp. If your question is how many attend other PG events, the answer is most all of the DI schools, top JC's and many of the others in all divisions. Nearly every full time scout in America has been to our events including the Scouting Directors and many GM's.

I understand your statement "I have to get him in "The Rankings".

However, it will be "his ability" getting himself into the rankings.

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