Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back.
-Babe Ruth
I am interested in this topic because I love the game of baseball, and it is a sport that you will love forever. I went this direction because I want to work in the sports industry and scouting has everything I could need. This job comes with good money, it is steady, and stays within the game of baseball. This is important to me because baseball is my favorite sport and I know a lot about the sport. Scouting interests me and it is important that I know what type of person it takes to become a scout. Scouts evolve the future of the sport. I hope I will gain a good understanding about what I could do as a scout and what I need to become a successful scout. As a player I also want to learn more about how to get scouts' attention and maybe a little bit about baseball in general. The quote I chose is significant because in baseball not giving up is huge because there will be many failures and a lot of inconveniences but I can't be scared to fail otherwise I will not succeed. Athletes should not be scared to fail because it will hold them back from going for it all. When you hold yourself back from greatness, you will never be who you were meant to be and you will not like the places you’re in.
Take this quick and easy true and false quiz about the benefits and challenges behind scouting!!
Have you ever been interested to become an MLB scout? If you have, check out this slide show to see what exactly a scout does!
Advancements to Scouting
A pencil and a piece of paper with a list of names that scouts cross off if they didn’t show them that they were good enough is all scouts got when this first became an occupation. Now, they have a system called the three step evaluating system. Skill evaluation, video analysis, and statistical analysis are the three components to evaluate athletes today (Chamberlain). Skill evaluation is when a scout studies at different abilities a player has, and they look at his or her tendencies and potential. In video analysis scouts evaluate a player by watching film on the player because they show insights about the players. Scouts look at them and can determine the strengths and weaknesses athletes have and other tendencies not shown in person. The last step is statistical analysis, which goes along with subjective evaluation. Scouts judge players on stats in order to know the player better. Aspects like batting average, on-base percentage, and fielding percentage help scouts. This is a huge advancement to scouting because instead of just going off of the potential the scout thinks the player has, scouts use these steps to help get a good understanding of the players (Chamberlain).
Another advancement to scouting is the use of technology. Scouting today has more advanced technology and the evaluation process has evolved. Video analysis tools can help scouts predict the way players perform. Data analytics help scouts analyze stats, and may show skills that have not been learned. Scouts who use these tools, stay in the scouting field much longer. There are many different types of technology that are used for scouting today. Tools like speed guns, video cameras, computers showing every hit speed and rotation angle, and many more (Kelly). With the help of these tools, scouting changed prodigiously. Scouts can now see how fast players throw from a screen, watch how players bat cross over the plate when they swing, and they can view the entire game via camera. When scouting just began, scouts had none of these tools to help them. Although Technology has evolved scouting, they are adding numerous benefits, downsides to using these advancements (Kelly).
Hardships
Scouting comes with many hardships, leading with the number of people scouts have to evaluate. Being an experienced scout makes this part of the job easier because after building their player knowledge, they have developed a good eye for talent. Another challenge with this occupation is the amount of traveling. When scouts are set to travel scout, which just means it is their turn to travel, they will be expected to fly or drive to many different states to watch college or high school level baseball games, in order to look at a specific player. When scouts are sent to these games, everything they do is paid for except for food, so it is not as expensive as one would expect. Travel scouting is much easier than scouting for their local teams. As they go to evaluate one specific player for their organization (Team). The last challenged is having patience. Patience and resilience are very important in scouting. Since not all players scouts see will be amazing. If a scout wants to be successful, he needs to get through the challenges that occur and learn from mistakes and keep going to find the next great player (Kelly).
Benefits
Although scouting has several challenges, many benefits come with scouting. One benefit is that they are not required to do any extended schooling after high school. This factor makes it much easier to jump straight into the job and build experience right away (Sports). The greatest benefit in scouting for a baseball team is how involved scouts are with the game. Baseball is a sport that everyone can love if they just give it a chance. Through scouting, athletes who don’t get a chance to continue playing at the next level are still involved with the sport and get paid a good salary. Scouts also meet many people all over the country. When scouts go to games to watch the kids, they are always meeting people like the athlete’s parents and family, and other scouts who are watching. As scouts meet people nationally, they build connections with people and build a good network for themselves. If scouts build their network, teams at the next level may hire them for a higher salary and will give them better benefits. Improved benefits make scouting a more well rounded career (Kelly).
Job Outlook
The job outlook for scouting today is very steady and the demand for this occupation is the experience level. It is starting to become harder to become a scout because of the technical advancements, and teams need people who can adjust easily to the advancements. The amount of people is dwindling because fewer people can adjust to the technology.
According to Apstein,
Although GMs are careful to note that scouting departments across the game have for the most part increased over the past few years—the average team, according to research by The Ringer, had 41.5 scouts in 2009 and has 54.6 today—their composition has changed. Today meetings tend to be full of men in their 20s and 30s, speaking up from behind team-issued iPads or laptops, fluent in complex analytics and as quick to cite spin rate as to use the traditional 20-80 scouting scale. (Chamberlain)
As the competition for scouting jobs grows, the salary grows as well. If scouts are experienced and know what they’re doing, they will easily make over six figures and even up to three hundred thousand dollars a year. If scouts are not experienced and are just starting out, they may only make around sixty to eighty thousand dollars a year (Chamberlain). Traveling extensively is something scouts have to deal with, especially for the scouts that cover large areas. They have to dedicate themselves to this career because they may spend weeks traveling, going to games. If scouts can manage their time and be organized, they will be more successful (Kelly).
