Scouting Director is normally the top man in the scouting department. Some clubs have more than one scouting director (amatuer and pro side). If more than one... The Director of Amatuer Scouting is the most well known in our circles. He is basically in charge of the amatuer draft.
There are assistant scouting directors, but the crosscheckers are the next level behind the scouting director for most clubs. The organizations are not all the same in the way the scouting departments operate. There are regional crosscheckers that travel all over the place. They basically compare the top players from one state to the top players from another area. Some clubs have a national crosschecker who travels evem more. He basically compares the top players from all over the country. Both reportt directly to the scouting director and most scouting directors also travel all over checking out the very top guys.
The Area Scouts or supervisors are in charge of a certain territory. They are responsible for identifying and evaluating the top talent within their area. If they like someone enough, the crosschecker might be called in for another opinion and comparison. These are the guys most often seen at events that draw scouts. Some of these Area Scouts are very well respected within their organization andf they have signed many players.
Associate scouts are basically volunteers within a small area. They recommend players to the Area Scout. "Bird Dogs" they are often called. Some of these guys are very good at what they do, others are involved for the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fakes out there. These people will even go so far as to print up cards that show who they're with. I think some just want to be big shots, others have business reasons for acting like a big shot. We have run into several that are unknown to their Area Supervisor. In other words... A Fake!
Once again there are some real good baseball people who are well respected and have been associate scouts for a long time. Most of these types go about their business very quietly. Watch out for the loud ones that freely hand out information!
Sometimes the clubs GM actually gets involved in scouting. The GM is basically the guy right above the scouting director, but relies on the scouting director to run the scouting department.
There are also other people involved in player personel and other areas that help out the scouting department at times.
Players shouldn't be concerned with the order. Everyone who sees you can be very important. Of course, who exactly is seeing you can give you an idea of where you currently fit in.
Hope that helps.
