Home Visit from MLB teams

No problem on the psych test, you will fit right in......................

K2's question is also on our minds. If my understanding is correct part of the reason for an in house visit will help determine, amoung other things, the signability of the player involved. College vs Pro, monetary concerns. How have other posters handled the signability question?

Thanks.

Simply weigh the college offer against what the pros are offering. In my son's case we made it clear that it would have taken 3rd or 4th round money minimum for him to even consider the minor leagues. The school, the schedule they play, the D-1 atmosphere was just too good to walk away from. If after 3 years in D-1 baseball he's not advanced enough to be considered a real pro prospect, then he probably wasn't going to make it anyway. In his case we deemed it better to serve his apprenticeship in college playing in some of the finest facilities, against some of the best teams in the nation than the tough life of minor league baseball ... at this stage in his life at least.

In college you have time to become a man, in the minor leagues you have to be a man the minute you sign the contract, not all are ready for that, my son wasn't. (unless of course the bonus was $ 500,000 plus! LOL!)

www.leaguelineup.com/sdprospects

K2,

Unless your son is "the Stud" that everyone knows is a first rounder, do not expect the scouts to make an "offer" during an in-home visit. They will be wanting to determine your son's willingness to fore-go college to play professional baseball directly out of highschool.

They will also be making note of your neighborhood, your home's appearance, the financial situation and income of the parents as well as your son's relative state of "maturity".

Do expect them to possibly attempt to get you to state an amount of signing bonus that would entice your son to by-pass college. If you do offer an amount to the scout, they will be able to project if you are asking for a greater sum than the round where your son projects and then the "signability" factor is added into his draft round projection.

The scouts are professionals who are trained on how to conduct in-home interviews, you are a family that is more than likely experiencing it for the first and only time. If you have an "advisor"(probable agent) he should be able to school you on how to conduct yourself with the scouts.

Good luck and "enjoy the ride"!(you will hear this phrase more than one time during the Sr. year.

Send me your e-mail address in a Private Topic and I will be glad to share some of the pre-draft miscues which we made with our son.

OPP

Opinions are just like snowflakes- no 2 of them are EXACTLY alike(although they may appear to be similar.)

opp you have a pm!. Thank You.

Oneplayer'spop

Thanks for the info. Have (hopefully)sent you my email. Appreciate you experience. Not anticipating offers to be made, looking for types of questions asked and opinions of how to handle.

thanks

sorearm,

Send me your e-mail address in a Private Topic and I will be able to get back to you.

OPP

Opinions are just like snowflakes- no 2 of them are EXACTLY alike(although they may appear to be similar.)

In what way will the "neighborhood" and house and so on affect their decisions? Why is it a consideration?

_______________________
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer

If you meet them with the truth you will do fine. They will figure it out if you are playing games. They have seen the games. The first few rounds pay lots of money. Nobody wants to make mistakes. Scouts have seen great players come from all kinds of neighborhoods and homes. Broken families that struggle and rich families that live in mansions. They want to know how interested you are in playing pro baseball right away. If it will take a million dollars or 10 thousand dollars for you to sign. The home visit is only one thing. There is other things scouts learn about a players worth and signability. If you get picked early enough you could make in one year what they make in twenty years. Scouts are not there to eat you alive.

Better yet, I've deleted my posts.

Now they have your perspective.

The scouts I would be a little "nervous" about are the scouts new to the business. As I've stated in the past, the scouts my family worked with by and large in the N. California area were some of the most professional people I have met. I can say without question that BBScout in regards to integrity, etc. is at the top of his profession.
Having said that, after the player is drafted, the area scouts present the "offer". It is my experience that they are told what the initial offer will be, based on what the commissioner's office would like to see & club budgets.
Most scouts try to get early signings. This is the "dangererous" period because the player's family really doesn't know what the market slot money will be until signings occur around his slot. This is where an advisor comes in and provides some guidance.
Business is business, and one can't blame a club in trying to be as cost effective as possible, but a good advisor can keep things cool during negotiations.
My point: Scouts have a job to do and we were fortunate in having quality scouts in our area. Sometimes negotiations can get bumpy, but that's not the scout's fault. He put his name on the line recommending the player, in essence he's your son's biggest fan up to the draft. After the draft, quality player representation is helpful for those who are new to the process. Take care.

No one has more respect for the scouting community than us. We have several scouts who used to work for MLB clubs.

Just like all other professions, Scouting has people that vary from excellent to bad. The very best are honest, hard working, talented people. They want to find and sign players. They often develop some life long friendships with those they sign. Making enemies is never in the best interest of the area scout.

Even working hard, doing a great job and being honest is sometimes not enough. In the past year, two good friends have lost their jobs. One very well respected baseball man, said the wrong thing while having a few drinks at a GM convention. The other, the scout who signed Albert Pujols a couple years ago for 30 grand, supposedly because of cut backs.

Good scouts are underpaid and there are some lazy scouts who are grossly overpaid.

An advisor may be valuable for a high draft pick, but he (the advisor) can't answer the most important question. Only the player and his parents know if professional baseball is an serious option out of high school. Then again, if they have an advisor, chances are, there's some interest.

Then you have the profession of advisors/agents to consider. If someone has little trust in the scouting profession, they should really beware of the agent profession. While there are several very good advisors/agents, there are a large number of those who could care less about the player. Many have placed their faith in the wrong people and have paid dearly.

Even the good agents understand the problem. So during the home visit don't worry about the scout. Do worry about who you get to be your advisor.

I am presently going thru all of this right now, as we try to make a choice as to which Advisor/Agent to pick. All of your comments are very insightful and helpful. The problem we have is my son injured himself and had to have TJ surgery at the end of this summer. To make this worst, this up coming season will be his Senior Year in High School(what a bummer).

After the surgery we thought..... that it, it's over!! But the Advisors/Agents keep calling. They all tell us TJ surgery is not that big of a deal, MLB doesn't view TJ as a major problem etc. Well...... I find that hard to believe, in fact, to date only one MLB team has made an in home visit. So IMO there are other factors to factor in and in our case, there is a major one.

Yes, having TJ surgery is definitely not a plus.

However, I have a hunch about who your son is and if I'm right, he's one of those that could still be selected very early despite his physical condition.

Agent/advisors that tell you TJ Surgery is not that big of a deal, that MLB baseball doesn't view it as a problem... Are exactly the agents that I'm talking about in the above post. They know your son isn't worth the same money as before TJ surgery. But, he's still special and they still want some of what he might get!

It (Tommy John) is not a benefit, that's for sure! However, once again if I'm right, you will be getting many more home visits scheduled over the next few months.

It's nice to hear from parents that understand when there is a major concern. We keep hearing of all the great success stories regarding TJ surgery. Unfortunately, we don't hear about all those who don't come back stronger than ever.

Best of luck to your son.

Carlos Quentin, of, Stanford, was a first round draft choice this year and he played the World Series with a bad arm and the scouts knew he is scheduled to have TJ surgery.

While it is dramatically different for an outfielder to have such surgery since there is a dh in the American League as opposed to a pitcher having this type of surgery...

It didn't affect him too much, i.e., being drafted, but maybe he would have been drafted higher and gotten more than the $1 million or so that he got without the prospect of surgery? Never know.

my3sonsand1daughter

you have a PT

How does one go about deleting posts? Are we all able to do it? Just trying to learn the ropes.

Moc1

moc...just go to the little yellow icon on the righthand corner that has an open folder with an eraser on it..click it and it opens...you can delete the entire message or edit it as you wish.

Beenthere, I don't think we "non-moderator" types can delete a whole post, just remove our comments. It will show a blank.

_______________________
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer

oh, ok. Sorry for the bad info. At least he can do something...

Been, Thanks

Moc1

Originally started this topic a month ago because my son and I wanted to know what to expect from "in home" visits from scouts. We got some really good insight from Oneplayer'spop.

We've now had 5 visits and this would be my take: first, I would agree with PG. Visits with the scouts have been for the most part pleasurable - significantly better than listening to the sales pitches of agent advisor types.

The older scouts have been great - good baseball conversation, eventually getting around to the questions they want to ask. Younger guys have not been as skilled, but still nice guys - fun talking with them. We've only had one scout ask in the first five minutes "What dollar amount will it take for you to forego college". Apparently he got all the information he needed in the first five minutes, because he then spent an hour on a rant abount the NCAA and college baseball.

Anyway, this phase of the adventure so far has been the most enjoyable- the scouts seem sincere in learning about the player. Different from the college coach and advisor/agent who is trying to sell you on their school or service.

usetawas/OPP,

You have a PM.

My son has had nine in-home scout visits so far this fall. My observation has been that the scout wants to establish two main points: to get a good indication of son's makeup and to gage his desire to sign (and his family's support of him to sign) and forego his college scholarship offer.

Has anyone put together an information sheet to give to scouts on home visits that indicate HS schedule, coaches name and phone #, biographical information of player, including college where NLI was signed, picture (face) attached? What do some of you scouts (grampa doug) think of that? Good idea or not necessary...if good idea, what else would be useful information to include?

Funny thing too...Why is it they all say when scheduling a visit that he 'only needs to have 30 minutes to and hour to meet with you', when the shortest visit so far has been one hour and 45 minutes and the longest has taken 2 hours and 30 minutes?

PLAYER INFORMATION CARD

http://www.angelfire.com/vt/prospectwatch/index30.html

How about a message board devoted to ranking and discussing scouts, agents, advisors -- so we can get info on the good and bad one's.

We all live in different areas and see different scouts, would be hard to RANK them I would suggest having the HS schedule available for them and coach's phone #. I also suggest to gather any medical records because sooner or later they may want them.
No one has ever asked about money, just up until what round would be acceptable.

Hey, I know that this topic was started a good while ago but I have a thought that I was thinking as I read through all you posts.
I see a lot of people saying that they want millions of dollars in order to play pro ball and I see people saying that they will only play pro ball if they are drafted in the first few rounds. All I could think of as I was reading this is, I would actually pay to play pro ball and I wouldn't care if I got drafted in the final round. I wouldn't care, as soon a someone offered my a contract I would sign it for fear that they may not offer twice. I would never whine that I'm not getting payed enough money. Playing Pro ball is something that not many players get to do. So I would say that my signability would be the easiest in America if everyone else only wants to play Pro ball fo the money. That is ridiculous! Playing pro ball is something that I, personally, want to do for shere love of the game. I mean, when I go to see the Pirates play, during BP, all I can do is picture myself down on the field with a Big Leage uni on, kids yelling my name for my autograph and taking BP on a Pro ballfield. That would be an awesome experience.

Now reading these posts, it makes me sick that someone is going to pass that up because they are not getting the money they want. Maybe I'm too young to understand what you guys are going through but all I'm saying is I would play for free.

The money side of baseball is what is screwed up. This is why small market teams like the Pirates can't afford big name ball players, because everyone wants to be the richest guy in america. My final thought is, be happly that someone is interseted in you and you are given the opprotunity to play ball at that level. Just take it and live the dream that kids like me are desperately striving to achieve. I know tons of kids who would love to be in your shoes, myself included, just sign and make the most of what is presented to you.

-Kevin

Catcher41-Kevin,
Good question. First I will tell you that neither you nor I can pass judgment on a player for either choosing to play professionally for a small amount of money nor can we criticize those that want a million dollars before they consider playing. That is a personal choice. It does seem that money becomes the main issue the majority of the time ...but….. things are not always as they appear or we may not know the complete story.
Let me give you a few examples. Let’s say you are a good baseball player and a very intelligent individual. Your 4.0 GPA and you college entrance scores have garnered you a full ride at a very prestigious university and the baseball coach has told you that you would be the starting catcher as a freshman. The coach has a very good reputation of improving players and most players drafted out of high school will improve their draft status by playing in his program. BUT... You have been drafted in the 40th round and you have been offered 1,000.00 to forgo college and play professional baseball. What do you do?
Another example: Let’s say you’re a big LHP that dominates everyone you face. You’ve been to numerous showcases and Baseball America has you ranked as the #2 prospects in the country. You have indicated that college is very important to you but you will forgo college if drafted high enough. This wishy-washey signal has dropped you from the top 5 rounds because of signability issues but a club decides to take a chance to see if you will sign. They sign you in the 6th round and offer slot money of about $150,000.00. Your agent demands 3 million because you are the #2 prospect and the press gets wind of this and has a field day. Is this just another greedy ballplayer? Or is this the #2 prospect in the country asking for respect?
Last example: A very good ball player is having a great senior year in high school (as a baseball player). Academically he is in trouble. His 1.7 GPA and his lack of college prep courses have excluded him from D-1 play. He may be able to get into a JUCO but even they are shying away. He has virtually no offers from colleges but he was drafted in the 37th round….. Does he keep his after school job at McDonalds or does he play baseball? If he decides to play baseball should he use the McDonalds job as leverage to increase the $2,000.00 they offered?

Catcher41,

You appear to be very signable. Hope you get that opportunity.

Everything that you say sounds great except for one thing. You mentioned one reason is to have young kids ask for your autograph. This is one thing that sounds great, but in reality it is not a very good reason for wanting to play professional baseball. It would be the wrong reason! It doesn’t have anything to do with loving the game… it has everything to do with desiring the fame that could be associated with playing as a professional. Most of your other reasons are great ones.

Money means different things to different people. People place different values on education and being a professional player. Fungo and many others here, understand that there are tough decisions to make. Your goal should be to get to a point where you really have those decisions to make. You might be surprised how you react when actually confronted by those decisions.

There is no right or wrong, any choice you make could turn out either way. Just because someone chooses college doesn’t mean they disrespect the game or love it any less than those who sign to play professional baseball.

We’ve seen players drafted in the first round and go to college. Two I can think of (off the top of my head) were both drafted again after their junior year in college in the first round. They both turned down over a $1 million to attend college. I might think they were wrong at the time, but they proved they did the right thing.

Because they are both professionals now… I’ll mention them by name… Jeremy Sowers went to Vanderbilt, John Mayberry Jr. went to Stanford. Hard to say either made a mistake!

Fungo,
I understand that everyone has different goals in life, I mean, if you walk down the halls of my school you will see kids who want to go to college and be doctors, trainers, vets., etc. The only thing that kind of made me raise an eyebrow is that they were upset that they weren't getting enough money. I can see that if college is more important to you than Professional Baseball than definatly got to college and let scout know that so the other kids who want to play pro ball can have a chance and so the team who wants to draft wont wast a draft pick on someone who doesn't want to sign based on the fact they would rather go to college. My intention in my post wasn't to critisize anyone for anything, it was just to state how I felt about someone not signing because they weren't getting paid enough.

PGStaff,
Yeah, about the autograph thing. The reason I picture myself doing that is because while I am wathing the Pirates take BP, I am yelling for their autographs and I just wonder, how cool would that be? You know? That isn't a reason why I would want to play pro ball (though it certainly is a plus). My reasons for playing pro ball would be;
(not in any order)
1)Big league uni
2)Playing on a big league ball field
3)Playing against some of the greatest competition in the world.
4)Being in a big league dugout
5)catching in a big league bullpen
+ a lot more.
My stand point came from my goal being becoming a MLB ball player. My statements where, basically, from envy that those kids are being given that chance. I didn't mean to critisize anyone. I'm sorry if it sounded like that.

-Kevin

Kevin,
I thought about what I had posted in my earlier post combined with what you said about different people having different goals and decided to add a little. You have some good points and some great thoughts. I can only relate to my thoughts when my son was drafted and we were in negotiations with a MLB team. MLB basically has one bargaining chip and that is money. MLB basically buys out all the other options a player has with cash. When my son was drafted out of high school we had concerns. One was his maturity and another was his education. As MLB started to up the ante, his maturity and his education became less of a concern. The money could have reached a point that he would have ignored his options and concerns and signed a pro contract. When my son signed out of college the situation had changed drastically. I had no concerns and was excited for him. While he did have an agent negotiating for him he was prepared to sign on draft day for whatever was offered.
Fungo

Kevin- good post. A good rule of thumb for life is "never say never". In going along with what Fungo and PG posted I thought I would share my my sons experience with you.
Baseball has always been his passion. He was middle infielder from a small school with a weak program in NJ. He was not scouted until he attended the World Showcase in January of his senior year and it was as a RHP. It was a very busy spring and you can imagine his/our excitement when we realized he could be drafted.
Prior to the draft we discussed at length what it would take for him to sign. The round was not that important to him. He came up with a number-it was not millions of dollars...not even hundreds of thousands. As a matter of fact after taxes it might be equivalent to the worlds smallest nest egg.
A bright young man, he had a minor learning disability that caused him to struggle academically in HS. School was a very frustrating place for him and if it wasn’t for baseball I don’t know how this would have turned out.
He graduated HS with a 2.5 GPA. He took the SAT 3 times (against his will) to get a score that coupled with his GPA would make him NCAA eligible. He committed to a JUCO.
Repeatedly during this process he stuck to his original plan, his original number, and all the while I kept thinking to myself-if he's drafted in the 50th round for a bus ticket and a happy meal, HE WILL SIGN! In the end I would have supported his decision but like Fungo, I had some concerns regarding the maturity level of an 18 yo boy who had never really been away from home.
He was drafted in the 41st round and to my surprise he went to college. It wasn’t about the money and it wasn’t about a lack of desire to play. It certainly wasn’t about his burning desire to go to school.
I think he recognized that he wasn’t ready. He wasn’t where he needed to be as a ballplayer or as a man. If you read these boards I don’t have to tell you how hard it is to make it in the minors, especially as a late round pick. He recognized that he needed to get bigger, stronger, and learn how to play his new position. I cant think of anything that is more important to him then to someday play professional baseball. He made this decision fully aware that he might not be drafted again so I know it was a gut wrenching decision for him.
He had a goal and it was to be drafted. He reached that goal and is working hard at obtaining new ones. He is working hard to get bigger and better and hopefully improve his draft status in the future. He carried 18 credits his first semester of college and improved his GPA to 3.1. He even took a class over Christmas break so that he has enough credits to transfer to a 4 year school if he does not have the opportunity to play professional ball in the next year and a half. He has an apartment off campus with a few other ball players so he's learning about life away from home (and loving it!). I'm really proud of him and his decision and it’s great to watch him mature into the wonderful young man he is. Good luck to you in pursuing your dreams.

Crollss,

I think your son made a great decision. Surely you know we think very highly of him. I really think he has a chance to play in the Big Leagues some day.

If he works hard doesn’t get satisfied, never gives up and stays healthy he will be drafted much higher later on. I hope he is as positive about his future as I am. Hope nobody thinks I’m blowing smoke here. Sometimes people really believe!

Excellent posts in this thread!

PGStaff
Thanks for the kinds words. He is a humble but confident young man....and he is very positive about his decision and his future. Thanks again!

crollss,
Your story about your son was a fantastic post.
It really hit home with me, as I read it last night at work on my pda. I could not wait to get home to show your post to my wife!
I could take a piece of carbon paper and put it over your post and it would be my Son, Except for the being drafted part.
We are getting ready as I post, to fly to Florida to the World Showcase.
Everything you said is what were going thru right now.
I love this Web site.
Your so right on about letting your son choose his destiny.
Its us parents that just have to let them spread there wings and make there own decisions.
I'm a firm believer in that things around you happen for a reason, and that you take advantage of the opportunities that or presented to you. Take care and good luck to your Son

k2

Good luck to your son. It sounds like an exiting spring ahead for him.

If anyone is lucky enough to be drafted make sure the team actually expects you to turn pro at that time that you do. I know a young man drafted very late, who tucked his signed contract under his arm and showed up for summer Rookie League Camp, only to be turned back around. He apparently did not understand the draft and follow concept and lost his D1 eligibility and scholarship because he turned pro.

This is my first post so bear with me here. All these post's have been great and extremly helpful. My son is a LHP and has been getting a lot of attention from Scouts / Advisors since his performance at Jupiter and the World Showcase.

I guess what I'm realizing is there is really no right or wrong answers here...get as much info as possible and trust your and your son's instincts to make the right decisions.