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An advisor is basically an agent but you can’t call it that. I think it’s good to interview several and many of them will tell you what they think your best path would be. Some are great, some seem a little sleazy.  The one my son finally decided on actually made us a prospectus. They picked about 10 pitchers they thought were similar to my son that went in the draft from high school hs. It showed what they made and if they ever made it the pros, how many years it took,  how long they stayed. And they also showed a group of pitchers that were similar to my son who stayed and went to college and the outcome of that path. It is interesting. Once you get into Season, they will give you feedback as to what the scouts are saying,They will advise you on what events you might want to attend or who is wanting to see you. As we got close to the draft, they told my son how much teams were willing to spend on him, so we could start discussing what his best options were. Ideally, they have a  long term relationship with your son, so he needs to like and trust them.

Last edited by baseballhs

All agents are different.  There are some who look upon their job to get you to your first ML contract, excellent at arbitration, and have players on the ML roster. Getting drafted with the right organization should be the priority. Not all are equal.

Everyone is so caught up in then it  draft money thing, and for most it's not going to happen.

JMO

We are still in the midst of it but our tips would be to keep a notebook of who you talked to and some of the questions they ask (there will be a pattern and it will help him answer in subsequent calls), set time limits to the calls (it can really add up), be yourself and enjoy the process. The scouts know he has a season so it’s ok for him to not be 100% available all the time.

Advisors........the good ones are really good and the bad ones......well, they wreck draft status, potential deals and lend little guidance to college-bound kids who need that time to develop vs being thrust into adulting with grown men. We had both, fortunately, and in my book our first experience was terrible as son was in HS while the latter and best experience was in college and exceptional. I had a friend call me about the MLB draft after son was drafted and his son was up that year....he asked what we did to land with an agent and how it happened. As i talked to him i realized that i couldn't really offer him much info. They found my son. Frankly, i hadn't thought that far ahead and shame on me for it. Who knows where he would be and with what resources? Ask around, talk to teammates who have the top tier advisors or others and network....there are a few that lead the pack and many who are solid and do a great job advocating for the players. I think everybody can detect the slick ones and if you can't or want to ask them a few questions; Ask who they represent now and where they are projected to be in the upcoming draft, who they've previously represented, what slot they went and where are they are now in the MLB system, along with how many 1st-5th round guys they have in their stable now? While money isn't everything as TPM mentioned and getting to arbitration is HUGE, you should be able to separate the wheat from the chaff pretty quick.

Some we know of that had clients affiliated with son via HS, Travel or College ball are:

CAA

Ballengee

Boras Corp

Jet

ACES Inc

Last edited by Shoveit4Ks

As PTWood mentioned keep a notebook and record notes on everything discussed, even the casual topics.  Ask some non-baseball questions from the scout and write it down.  Son did it and a few times the scouts were impressed he "remembered" stupid things.  Gave the impression son was genuinely interested in the scout and team.  Enjoy the experience of having MLB teams interested in YOUR son.  Many players and parents may never experience this attention.  Learn from each contact and after a few hopefully he will know what to ask and look for.  Another thing is just because  scouts don't seem interested or make themselves available isn't a reason to write them off.  The scout (team) had very little contact with son (we never met him until after the draft during the signing).  Speaking with the scout he told us he used to watch and record son from the building beyond the OF wall, using telephoto and binoculars.  So much easier than sitting in the stands, being interrupted by fans/parents, and he had a clear shot watching how son carried himself in the dugout when he thought nobody was watching.  Enjoy this fun and exciting time!

We didn't have contact with the scouts since son was scouted in college and he did all the work at that point, however, PLEASE don't be THAT parent.

There was a local HS player that was getting attention and the paper did a story.  It was a lengthy article complete with a picture and the mom said she kept a notebook/scrapbook and all that was in it and how her son had heard from all but one team and he was projected to go 3rd-5th rounds. blah blah blah.  No one offered what he wanted and he got drafted late.  He wound up going on to college, but the article left a very bad impression.

You never know what is going to happen on draft day, until it happens (or doesn't).

Last edited by keewart

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