Question regarding Area Scouts

Coach,

Each area of the country has different issues to deal with when it comes to scouting. Southern California's issue deals with the number of prospects in that area.  There are more MLB Prospects in S. Cal. than anywhere in the country. I'm guessing you already know that.

Anyway, the above, makes the summer and fall events along with Scout ball very important.  It allows the scouting community to see many prospects at a time rather than attending all the HS games they play in.  

Once they recognize the talent, much of the scouts schedule will be coordinated by the level (or estimated round) of that player.  Early round potential requires seeing the player as much as possible that final HS season before the draft.  CrossCheckers will be called in and in some cases the Club's Scouting Director will show up. The area scout will see that player as much as possible and maybe have an associate at the games when he is somewhere else.

Once again, there is a ton of talent in that area.  Just being a very talented player isn't always enough.  However, most of the extremely talented seem to know what to do.  They attend National level events, the Area Codes has been held there for a long time.  It is run by the scouts, there are tryouts held.  

Not many of the very best prospects go unnoticed in S.Cal., but unless you are on a HS team that has one of them, your chances of getting noticed at a HS game are much lower.  That said, there are probably more good prospects missed in S.Cal. than anywhere else. That despite the fact it might be the most heavily scouted area of the country. The kid that might standout in other states, can easily get overlooked in California.

As a HS coach out there I would suggest you go out of your way to develop a lot of contacts with the scouting community.  Be 100% honest with them at all times and they will grow to trust you and your judgement.  Then when you have a special player, let them know.  Some HS coaches are very active at this, sadly many are not.  

Also, scouts will sometimes label players as a certain round, ie. 4th to 7th.  Keep in mind that there are players tagged 4th to 7th round that don't even get drafted for one reason or another. Signability is as important as talent.  So scouts have to determine if a player is signable in the range they have him at.  Nobody can afford to glue in on a kid that is not going to sign. There are too many players out there that need to be seen to waste time and money.  

Anyway, there are a lot of great scouts out there in your territory.  One of the very best we had at PG is a crosschecker out there.  The scouting community seems to be close there.  Scout ball is big!  Travel ball is extremely good.  Seems if one scout knows about a player, they all do.  Still, there is so much talent, it is nearly impossible to see it all.

Thank you PGStaff for the reply as it was very informative. I have a shortstop on my team that is getting some looks and I was curious to see where he fit in draft wise. He was on the Brewers Area Code team, went to PG National and was on the Angels Elite Scout ball team. He is definitely a draftable kid but he is not going to be drafted in the top 2 to 3 rounds like the catcher from Long Beach Wilson or Pitcher from San Clemente. So I was just curious how many times area scouts will go watch him play and will crosscheckers come watch him play? We have had nine games so far and at five of them we have had about 3 to 6 area scouts at the games to watch him play. The other four games we played horrible teams and no one was there. So I was just curious about all this. For example, with so many draftable kids in Southern California, how many times will they come watch a kid that is not a top 2-3 round talent. The player signed a NLI to a Pac-12 school but is very signable I believe if he goes somewhere in rounds 5-10. Thanks again. 

I would think they would come watch him a lot.  Son's teammate was drafted in the 4th round 2 years ago, and he always had people coming to watch him play, or they would come and watch him workout.

Interesting. Yeah I have seen it both ways. There was a kid two years ago that was drafted in the 6th round and he had about 3 to 6 area scouts and sometimes a birdog or two at about half of his games. The other 15 games there was no one there to watch him. I just know in Southern California there are so many players to watch and if you are not a top 3-4 round kid than you might only get a couple looks.

Can mlb teams pay for hotel and air fair to have a high school player do pried raft workout?

Meant predraft work out

I believe they can reimburse IF kid is drafted and signs but not if otherwise. We are headed to Seattle next week for that exact reason and that is what we were told.

Presumably the question regards the NCAA eligibility of a player if he receives travel expenses during a professional tryout.

12.2.1.2 Tryout Before Enrollment—Sports Other Than Men’s Ice Hockey and Skiing. In sports other than men’s ice hockey and skiing, prior to initial full-time collegiate enrollment, an individual may participate in a tryout with a professional team or league, provided he or she does not receive more than actual and necessary expenses to participate.

In other words, the player may be reimbursed for the actual travel expense.

12.2.1.3 covers tryouts for a player who has already enrolled in college.  It is more restrictive.