Question about pre-draft communication

What you’re asking about does happen more often than you would think. But most often if it’s a first day pick, the scout will have talked ahead of time with the player. In the case of a college senior being drafted later, there’s not as much risk and the player doesn’t have many alternatives. Then the scout contact ahead of time is not as important.

it's-
my son was a late bloomer so to speak and wasnt scouted until spring of his senior year in HS. He had roughly 15 teams come out to see him pitch. Most of those scouts at some point had a conversation with my son, a few called our home frequently and spoke to him several times over the spring.
He was a late round draft pick by a team (and a scout) that we had no communication with prior to the draft.

Thanks pg and croll- it is a question that I had never really thought about - and these responses are helpful.

Its, our son received two calls the night before the draft from teams/scouts he had never talked with and who never requested a questionaire. Only question was are you still healthy and some discussions about where they might show interest. In the 13th round, a team called and said they might pick him in the next two rounds. He had heard nothing from that scout or team in over one year. Again the question, are you healthy?
I think the MLB scouting bureau might account for some of this since all teams can access that information.

To start this back-up,

My Son, a HS senior, has rec'd questionaires from scouts and also some phone calls.

Most of the calls and some of the letters have mentioned something about watching him in the Spring (those who have asked have been sent Sping schedules), they had seem him at a couple of events. His HS coach has also gotten a number of inquiries.

I have no expectations, and do think it is important to get a College education, but obviously my Son has other thoughts.

My question is are there things that my Son should be doing in regards to staying in touch with these Scouts. Most of them appear to be Area Scouts.

I've learned/struggled through the college recruiting process and was just wondering what if anything he needs to do at this point.

I'm not looking for advice from the money side or rounds or college vs. draft (there seems to be plenty of info on this site on that) just want to add one more piece of information so we can be better informed.
Thanks

Novice dad,
Your son doesn't have to do anything right now.

However, just a personal suggestion. At some time you need to sit down with him and have a serious pre-draft discussion. It's important to find out where his head is at and what he understands and doesn't understand about the process.
Good luck!

NoviceDad,
I wish I had asked the same question that you are currently asking. Everything seemed to be going along at a steady pace after my son signed his NLI. We thought he might be drafted in the top ten rounds because of the rumors from baseball people .... but we weren’t sure. I just assumed the process would be much like the college process, with the player having to make some effort to be noticed. Coming from a relative obscure part of Middle America I didn't think there would be much pro scout activity during the high school season. I figured one or two would drop by from time to time to watch a game and then we might hear from them as the season wound down. My son had played against some high profile players during summer ball and the scouting activity was OK but not overwhelming. My son had been to East Coast pro, seen a ton of scouts there and no scout pulled him off to the side…they were just taking notes. Everything was “cool” until the first day of spring practice. The first day of his spring baseball practice caught me totally off guard …. TWELVE scouts at the first day of practice. I had no idea that a scout would ever show up at practice. It never let up. They would call and want him to come to the high school so they could see his throw downs to second base. One flew in from Atlanta, called the house at 7:00AM and wanted to see him throw a private bullpen at 8:00AM. It can get very intense very quickly. You want it to happen but you will never be prepared. Coming out of college was totally different. I had one scout approach me and lafmom was there. My son would have meetings with pro scouts and fill out questionnaires like he did in high school but no personal evaluations or discussions about rounds or money like it was in high school.
Fungo

its....

The scout that ultimately "signed" our son only saw him one time in his Sr. season and that was at the first scrimmage of the year. He did not do any greater communication at that time(or at any other time until after the draft for that matter)than have us fill out the small "info" card. Later we found out that several "bird-dogs" had been sending reports throughout the season.

The scout, Grant Brittain, turned out to be a real good guy from Hickory, NC. Once son signed, Grant kept talking about how cool it would be for him to go see a player that he signed play in his hometown. Unfortunatly, Grant switched organizations prior to son reaching Hickory.

Thanks for the info everybody. It is reassuring to hear from those that have gone through the process.

Now all I have to do is find a nice corner at the ballfield to sit and try to relax and enjoy just watching him.