Scouts at HS games

In my experience, there is not much normal or predictable here....depends on the scout....I have seen scouts come very early...during pregame warmups and leave early.....I have seen scouts in the parking lot as I was getting dressed and only after the game starts do they come to the stands.....

I've seen scouts come and go without speaking to a soul. I've seen scouts that without a radar gun, would not be easily identifed as anymore than an average fan. No big league club hat or shirt.........

I guess thats not a lot of help....

PIAA

I agree--there is no rule of thumb at least not in my experience

The guy sitting down the right field line looks like someones grandfather but then again he may be a scout

If the scout wants to talk to you he will seek you out

I can only give you one isolated example and I’m quite sure others have had different experiences and therefore different opinions. I don’t think there is any particular protocol in the scouting of a high school player. Scouts show up sometime announced and sometimes unannounced. Sometimes they will talk to the parents, coaches, the player and sometimes they will talk to the parents of other players and sometimes they don’t talk to anyone. In reality parents don’t need to INITIATE anything to complete a successful draft but you do need to comply with the scout’s requests if your son wants to forgo college and play professionally.
When my son was drafted out of high school I had a lot of conversations with scouts. Most of the conversations were small talk and I guess we were both looking for indicators of what was to be. There are basically two questions the scouts wants to know from the parents. One, what are their feelings about their son turning pro out of high school and if they are positive about him turning pro, how much money will it take for him to sign. You can simplify the process if you give them that information on the front end and possibly never see them again.... or .... You can drag out the process for months in hopes of getting to common ground. Whatever you do be honest. I would only consider dragging your son through what can be a traumatic experience if it appears that you are going to be very close going into the process and ONLY then if you feel your negotiations can provide a contract.
Hope this helps
Fungo

Great advice Fungo! I have a question for you or for other parents who have been through the draft process.
Knowing what you do today, would yu have done ANYTHING differently?

Respect the scouts that they are there doing their job, they will seek you out if they wish to speak with you. One thing I did not like, the area MLB scout would bring scouts over to meet us after son pitched, then we missed most of the rest of the game. Towards the end, we sat in the building directly above the dugout to watch to avoid the conversations.

We found that after the scouts came to our home and knew who we were, they would come to say hello or let us know they were there to see son.
Since my son was a pitcher, many came early to watch warm up or bullpen. Also, many advisors in the audience looking for us to just "say hello".

I know that some parents love the whole process, we did not. Looking back, thinking about all of the stress on son and his team, we would have had a more serious discussion to just tell everyone no thank you earlier as he did in the end.
It's a very tough decision because it is part of their dream and the attention is exciting. We took a hit (his dad and me) hearing things from some that couldn't mind their own business. Like my son wanted more than he was worth, or son turned down tryouts, he obviously didn't want it bad enough. Or how come he didn't go pro being that he could have gone in an early round? HOW COULD YOU LET HIM DO THAT, some asked.
Mine is just like all of yours, wants to play baseball for a living. But he was also a very good student, was trying to enjoy his last year of HS the best he could and knew he had a great opportunity to play at a great baseball program. It was our job to direct him in the right direction and I feel that in the beginning we did not do that.
I know that my son is enjoying the experience much more now than as a senior in HS. And if you think there are lots of scouts around in HS, wait until you see them at college games, tournaments. They tend to blend in much more with the crowd, so it is not as distracting.

Didn't mean to go on about it, but just one's parents perspective of how chaotic this time of year can become, how it can be distracting and stressful, for some not really fun at all.

Simply leave them alone, they are there to work. If there is major interest in your son, they will initiate everything.

Initially there is nothing you can do that will make them more interested in your son. Once "they" make the contact, everything you say or do will become important.

That said, most scouts will be polite if talked to... They represent their organization.

quote:

And if you think there are lots of scouts around in HS, wait until you see them at college games, tournaments. They tend to blend in much more with the crowd, so it is not as distracting.

This is true>Most times in larger arenas scouts will sit directly behind homeplate even though some will kind of move around for angle purposes in mechanical observations/evaluations.

One thing you said though TPM that really doesn't match up...If your son wants to play MLB for a living, why wouldn't he cooperate with those responsible of draft order and money denominations which can be improved upon by pre-draft workouts appearances meetings...etc. The scout will sometimes out of courtesy introduce you to others who may be in better position on draft-board. Higher drafts get higher money.

If I had a son, his tail would be at every and any opportunity that arises in order to improve chances or preferential ranking. Which BTW, understand that David's is up there even as a Sophomore. All I'm saying is I realize scouts can be a little testy sometimes but just remember that he/she is getting paid to procure the best possible talent for the lowest amount of money. From my experiences, it is better to let them know and be honest up front, as Fungo points out, this is only expected or unwritten rule that we come to expect unless your son is a Kevin Brown type player who can tell any scout anything he feels like and he has through the years. Never forget when Kevin turned down 1st round money as Junior only to return to Ga Tech his senior year. What a setback for the scouts involved in procurement process. It can be devistating and even lead to unemployment in some cases. So yes, be honest with scouts no matter how much you like or dislike them. Hope this is helpful and once again, apologize for missing earlier post.

Shep

What would I (we) have done differently? I’m not sure I would have done anything differently. There were 2 rounds difference in where he was drafted and where he would have signed. From the third round to the fifth round. The club was in a unique situation in that he was their 2nd pick overall and indicated they could go to 3rd round money but it never materialized. The club pretty much knew what it was going to take to sign him and I pretty much knew what they would pay. (or so I thought)
TPM, in my son’s case being drafted out of college was completely different from high school. I was a non-factor in his college draft. Instead of TELLING my son what I thought he should do, as I did in high school, in college I ASKED him what he was going to do. Coming out of college I NEVER talked to a scout and only talked briefly with his agent. Thank goodness the NEED for parental guidance is lessened by the maturity of the child.
Fungo

Shep,
Just a few things first. I get a lot of pm's asking why son went to the school he did, why didn't he go to XYZ,etc., why did he not get drafted.
It's hard sometimes to write each and everyone back in detail, it's times like this that I can share my experiences.
First of all, if you have never been through it, you really have no clue, which I admit I didn't have much at the time. Thinking we were prepared, realized son really wasn't. It's pretty hard to tell what a 17 year old really wants, when you are getting so much attention. What we did, may not be what you would do. Your comments of if you had a son, lets me think that you would be more of an influence for your son to play ball out of HS. Maybe because this was what YOU would like, never mentioning IF that would be what your son wanted.
Had nothing to do with not cooperating, and I did not mention we did not like scouts, just the process. Actually have made a few friends since then and living in Florida we know lot of them for years, (did I mention that the HEAD honcho at the time, whose known son for years from the Cardinals told son to go to Clemson first). Son was most gracious for the opportunities and honestly most of the scouts that were very interested told him going to school was a good choice. Cooperating and being honest would help him more later on.
Maybe things would have been different if the school was different, his scholarship opportunity was different (yes you have to tell the scouts how much). Maybe if the head coach was different, the pitching coach was different things would have been different. But AS mature as son was, didn't think he was ready to go to work, he had expressed a huge desire to reach Omaha and he was 100% college material. He also was very fortunate that he had a lot of physical maturing to do, good stuff, good health so we knew it wouldnot be his last opportunity. This is very important in making a decision, consider ALL of the factors, not just few.

"From my experiences, it is better to let them know and be honest up front, as Fungo points out, this is only expected or unwritten rule that we come to expect unless your son is a Kevin Brown type player who can tell any scout anything he feels like and he has through the years".

This is exactly what we did do, we were honest and up front BEFORE draft day. But I am thinking he should have been honest and up front sooner, because we KNEW, he really wanted to be a college player and whatever happened after that, happened. We didn't tell him what we wanted him to do, we advised him and gave him his options and explained everything clearly. He looked to us to help him find the answers and as much as we would have loved to tell people our son was a pro ball player, the time was not right. I know you are using Kevin Brown in your post because you must have read the article but you left out the part that his team mates compared him to Kevin Brown, no one else, and while he liked that (I suppose) the article states he never thought of himself as anyone but himself. He never had an attitude he was Kevin Brown material. And frankly I don't care what happened to Kevin. I didn't like what you were implying.
I notice you come here with lots of stories, dropping lots of names, telling people "shep" sent ya. But I have never really read anything that has been of value to parents when asking questions regarding the process. I am to assume you were a scout at one time, so there are certain things you know I give you respect for, but you have NOT seen the other side as a parent.

Fungo,
Thanks for the reply. Happy that we will not have to advise him if he should get a second chance. He will be three years older, three years more mature, three years more ready.

Wow,

Now that was an education. Didn't mean to strike a nerve or anything and had no idea about any Kevin Brown article but used to work out with him in GA when he was college player.

Wish your son the absolute best and hope you can find it in your heart not to dislike me because of my opinions...

Shep

quote:

Originally posted by Shepster:
Wow,

Now that was an education. Didn't mean to strike a nerve or anything and had no idea about any Kevin Brown article but used to work out with him in GA when he was college player.

Wish your son the absolute best and hope you can find it in your heart not to dislike me because of my opinions...

Shep

I respect people's opinions, not always their assumptions.

A word of caution. My son is in his sophomore year of college. He would have loved to have gotten drafted right out of high school, because no one from this area every had. If I had it to do all over again, I would have told the scouts to draft him, and then we would talk. Instead, I honestly told them if he were drafted in the top 5 rounds, he would go pro, top 10 rounds, 50% chance he would go pro, beyond that he would go to college. Don't get me wrong, my son is exactly where he needs to be. He was not a top 10 round draft pick out of high school. Maybe, a 20-30 rounder, but remember there are 50 rounds. If I had kept my mouth shut, he would have probably got drafted in the late rounds, felt great about it, and went on to college. If your son would just like to say he got drafted out of high school, regardless of the round, just keep quiet and let it happen.

dad9,

I just wanted to get an understanding of why you said you should have kept quiet and let it happen? Did you have an advisor working with you? My son would love to be drafted as well, and have heard from a couple agencies already, he is only a junior and hasn't even had tryouts yet for his hs team. From what they are saying the boy will have the chance to be a "high round" draft pick. Believe me, I'm trying to keep things in perspective with the agencies, they are lawyers at heart, I'll leave it at that. But the reason I ask, dad9, is the info we are getting is you should be up front and truthful with everyone in the process. I believe in honesty anyway, if I can't trust a scout, coach or agent we've got BIG problems. You can be honest but still hold your cards tight to the vest, I believe.

dad9

See your point but Seed-thrower in Great Lakes is right, honesty is the best policy when dealing with MLB.

Lifelong consequences with MLB can be a difficult barrier to overcome because news travels fast in scouting circles and sometimes just one little off-the-wall comment can start a fire that can never be put out.

Shep Cares

"If your son would just like to say he got drafted out of high school, regardless of the round, just keep quiet and let it happen."

I was always under the impression, one wants to get drafted to play pro ball, that's what should be indicated when a scout asks the question.
It's a scouts job to find the best talent and recommend to his organization. His job could be in jeaopardy if he recommends a player, is drafted early and doesn't sign. If there is strong indication a player might be taken in the first 10 rounds, as parents and player you should be educated on the process, to know that the organizations expect you to sign. If you have been given an indication that your son might get drafted in a certain round, and you know what the bonus is, what teams your son will or will not play for, be honest whether it is acceptable or not to not attend college. In our case, son had an indication of what teams would be willing to offer, he knew he would not sign for that amount, and told them that honestly. He didn't get drafted. We were not going to let him BS just so he could say he got drafted. We personally knew too many that make their living as scouts and we respected that. That's my recommendation, may not be right, but that is what he did.
People say scouts lie, I have not found that to be the case. But, I do beleive (correct me if I am wrong), they can sense when they are being played.

quote:

People say scouts lie, I have not found that to be the case. But, I do beleive (correct me if I am wrong), they can sense when they are being played.

I don't believe that they "lie", either.

They just overstate how much input/authority they actually have on draft decisions.

When I was in High School, I remember this one day after a game, up came about 6 older men and asked me how I liked playing 3rd base. Being a shy kid at the time, I said it's okay, probably those two words were the only one's that came out of my mouth. They then asked me if I could play outfield, and I said "yes". Too funny. I found out later, they were scouts from 6 different organizations. I had no idea I was being scouted, it was an uneasy feeling back then. Eventually, I did sign in the 4th round, played up to triple A as a Catcher, and eventually injured out of pro baseball. But in all honesty, If I knew there were scouts out there scouting me, I would have been a nervous wreck. So, all you potential MLB'ers, when you see an old man out there, relax, it could just be a grandfather who could only get to right field!!

MFH