Replies sorted oldest to newest
The weather map dictates.
Bob
College coaches (and HS coaches) are very important in the scouting process. Coaches will keep the area scouts up to speed on what the coaches think are pro-potential players. (Of course, if the coach cries wolf, they lose the trust of the area scout.)
Scouting is a winnowing (filtering) and ranking process. While scouts are actively scouting during the fall and spring pre-season, we are now in the part of the season where the area scout (and his unpaid associate scouts) runs around watching bunches of potential prospects in order to decide which deserve further looks by the area scout (or in the case of a potential upper round recruit, which cross-checkers should be advised to see the player).
Area scouts (the organization's amateur side) are not at spring training; the scouts at spring training are from the professional side of the organizations scouting department. (Keep in mind that even if you see an amateur scout at a ST facility, ST facilities are located in hot beds of amateur baseball (e.g., ASU, lots of Florida colleges, HS) It is not uncommon for a scout to watch a dozen games - or more - a week from the start of the college season until season's end. As the season matures, the very long list of draft eligible potential players shrinks as the area scout focuses on what he perceives as the players who can be projected to have MLB potential..
In places where games haven't yet begun (north), scouts may be sent south to help amateur scouting where needed.
One quirk of scouting, which directly impacts those northern schools with limited home games (e.g., Ivy League), is that the area scout must see the player in order to turn his name in for potential drafting; it can be very difficult to see players - especially pitchers - when some schools play few home games. In these cases, the coaches "street cred" can be critical in getting the area scout to the game.
