The game of baseball is not for everybody. It is slow-paced and strategic, and at some points will test one’s patience. That is what makes being a Major League Baseball scout one of the toughest jobs in the sport industry. It takes a certain type of breed to become a scout because they watch the same players day in and day out.  They spend endless hours under the scorching mid-July sun, looking for the tiniest of details in a player’s mechanics and fundamentals. Great athletes have come and gone, great coaches have come and gone, great teams have come and gone, but the obstacle remains the same: recruitment. In the past, the MLB has used two types of recruitment techniques to help project a player’s potential in the big leagues. Most commonly used is traditional scouting, which can be considered “old-fashioned” or “back to the basics” scouting in some form (Berkowitz). The other method of recruitment used in the MLB is something known as statistical analysis. Statistical analysis is a component of data analytics and involves collecting, analyzing, and comparing all data samples (Vice Sports). The discussion between which form of scouting is more efficient and likely to put together a championship roster (since that is every team’s goal) has been going on since the beginning of the sport. And since baseball is considered by some as America’s past time, that is what makes this debate unique and quite often brought up. Although I view traditional scouting as the most essential recruiting method, I believe that using the advanced technology for statistical analysis can also be valuable in the recruitment process. The combination of these two methods is the best and most effective way of recruiting MLB prospects into the major leagues today. 

Billy Beane, former general manager of the Oakland Athletics, believed that you did not need to scout prospects in person at all. In fact, he “flirted” with the idea of firing all the scouts and just drafting kids straight from Paul’s laptop” (Armour 259). Baseball statistical analysis had been evolving for years and he believed that baseball’s large statistical record could tell a team which players will actually help you score and prevent runs. By choosing to use only this one select method of recruitment, you are losing out on an entire other aspect of a player. Traditional scouting allows you to determine a player’s demeanor. Some may say that demeanor is not as important as their raw skill level, but it equally can be. Just by physically being there to watch, which is missing in Beane’s approach, it is easy to gain knowledge about the type of character they are on and off the field. If they interact well with their teammates, communicate during the game, and lead by example, then they can be someone who has a beneficial impact to the team regardless of the numbers they put up (Silver 1). In contrast, if a player has a poor demeanor it is effortless to pick up on. They hang their head after making an error in the field or striking out, blame others for their failings, and simply do not look like they care about winning. Technology may tell me that his exit velocity is ninety-eight miles per hour, but if that is only because he is swinging bat shit crazy and pissed off because he struck out his last plate appearance, then he is not a worthy asset to the team. By leaving out traditional scouting in the recruiting process, you also leave out things you cannot see through a stat line such as the intangibles of a player. In an ESPN article titled Scouting vs. Statistical Analysis, Chad Ford states “Numbers, projections, and patterns can all help determine whether a player has potential, but one cannot under estimate the ability of human instinct to pick up on the intangibles.” When actually there to watch, scouts can get an idea for an athlete’s baseball IQ as well as their fundamentals fielding the ball and swinging a bat. Base running is another key component of the game and statistical analysis provides zero information about a player’s base running ability other than their natural speed, which is useless with improper techniques. Statistical analysis also breaks away from the traditionalist style of baseball that the past has gifted. 

On the flip end of things, not using some sort of statistical analysis would be a waste to the advancements this world has seen. Everything is evolving at all times and it would seem silly to hide the fact there is technology that could be useful in predicting a player’s future and improving recruitment as a whole. In the YouTube video Future of the Game: Baseball’s Latest Statistical Revolution, the speaker tells the audience they have technology that can discover distance, exit velocity, arm strength or even spin rate of the ball (Vice Sports). None of that can be picked up on by the naked eye, no matter how good of a scout is watching. They have confirmed that their technology is incredibly accurate which makes these specific categories targets for scouts. A benefit of statistical analysis is that shortly after each game the club can be provided with the data that was recorded to then use to compare player performances on the team (Cafardo 1). The coach’s job just became much easier now that he knows which of his outfielders have the best reaction time after the ball leaves the bat, and who can cover the most ground to get to it. Not only is this technology useful for comparing players against each other, but also for comparing players to themselves, to look for, and encourage improvements in, their athletes. With that being said, if a player is injured, it is possible to track his progress back to full health. Once the injured players’ statistical data rejuvenates back to where it was before the injury occurred, he is prepared to take the field again. The last place statistical analysis can help is comparing players of the present to the past (Cafardo 1). Every other morning on ESPN they debate whether LeBron James or Michael Jordan is the best basketball player alive, but it will forever be debated because they played in different eras. It is possible that statistical analysis could help end a debate like this because they are able to analyze and compare the data for each player against their own generation and see who was more dominant. Although statistical analysis cannot ever be used as the only form of scouting, like traditional scouting used to be, it still demonstrates its’ valuableness to the recruiting process.

As seen above, leaving out either style of recruitment can lead to a disadvantage for the team when attempting to recruit athletes. If a team is able to access the technology for useful data analysis, along with providing a group of scouts to be there in person, then they have the best of both worlds. Not only can the scouts report back to the coach and managers about what they noticed, but they can also take a look at the statistics provided for them and analyze the data long after the game is over. That is why I proposed that all teams in the MLB should adopt both methods of recruitment: statistical analysis and traditional scouting. Clubs and organizations are able to answer a lot of questions about the athlete from the use of traditional scouting even without having any data on them. Do they allow themselves to get down if they make a mistake? Or do they bounce back and keep their head up? How do they handle pressure situations? What type of team player are they? How do they interact with their teammates? Do they have leadership skills?

What type of person are they off the field? These questions may appear irrelevant in determining a player’s skill level, but these are the questions that teams must find an answer to, if they want to find the right character in a player, who will someday be a leader on the team. Statistical analysis provides us with the hard facts such as a player’s exit velocity, arm strength, speed, reaction time and other factors that can be picked up by the technology that is used (Vice Sports). This information allows us to know if the athlete has the physical attributes to compete at the highest level, but traditional scouting allows us to answer what most people believe are the important questions that can predict a players’ career. Too often you see a superstar head down the wrong path once he reaches the major leagues and gets a seven-figure paycheck. Athletes seldom invest their money the proper way and they wind up broke after they only last a few years in the MLB (Callahan 1). There is no possible way that the use of statistical analysis could tell you enough about a person to be able to make a prediction about the career span of an athlete, but traditional scouting in some ways can. If the scout can answer all of the questions listed above while watching the prospect over the course of a season, and he believes that they have a good head on their shoulders, high baseball IQ, team chemistry and leadership skills it makes it easier to trust that they will strive once they reach the big leagues. Take Ryan Harvey for example, a six foot five, two hundred forty pound outfielder that attended Dunedin High School in Florida (Rosenbaum 1). He was drafted number six overall by the Chicago Cubs in 2003 and agreed to a two point four million dollar signing bonus (Rosenbaum 1). Given his size, pure athleticism, and outstanding set of tools he was believed to be worth every penny at the time. If data analysis were used on an athlete of this body frame, his numbers would sure surpass and stand out amongst anyone in his class. However, Harvey’s time in the MLB was short lived due to his long swing and lack of plate discipline, which lead to contact and strikeout issues (Rosenbaum 1). Although data analysis has proven Harvey was physically capable of competing at the top level, any scout should have been able to pick up on the faulty mechanics of his swing and plate approach. There are also scenarios where athletes do not live up to their potential because they let the fame and money take control over their morals and values. In the case of Ryan Harvey, he was just not quite fit for the major leagues, but a fellow member of the 2003 draft class, Jeff Allison, let drugs get the best of him. The six foot two right-handed pitcher was expected to rise quickly through organization’s farm systems and become a number one in any rotation but the 18-year-old suffered from a nearly fatal overdose (Rosenbaum 1). At the conclusion of the season he received treatment for his addiction to both heroin and oxycontin (Rosenbaum 1). It is always a shame to see such raw talent go to waste, but an even bigger shame that the Florida Marlins wasted a twelfth overall pick. No scout is ever thinking to himself or herself that the player they are recruiting is a drug addict, but it is possible that over the course of recruitment, one could notice signs that might lead to a bigger problem like Allison’s. Traditional scouting has always been the method of choice for reasons like this. It allows a scout to have face-to-face interactions with the prospect they are recruiting and get a feel for their background, family and lifestyle. 

Going along with this, cases similar to that of Ryan Harvey and Jeff Allison are the reason this debate has been long lasting and still talked about today. Like mentioned before, the goal of every sports team regardless of the sport is to win the championship. The only way that is achievable is if a solid foundation is set in the way you recruit your athletes. Young prospects, if done right, are going to be the future of the franchise. The worst nightmare of a general manager, owner and franchise is to waste a first round pick on a bust. That is why the method in which teams choose to recruit is so essential to building a championship caliber team, but often the stars that are already on the teams take away from the importance of recruitment. People associated with the team such as fans, undervalue the upcoming prospects because they already have their franchise tag and it is likely that their draft class will have to get experience in the farm systems first before making an appearance on the professional team (Rosenbaum 1). What people need to understand is that even the superstars who sign multi-million dollar contract deals had to begin somewhere. They were not just drafted and put in the starting lineup right away. Great athletes are those with a killer work ethic and winner mentality. That is what is most important when deciding a player’s potential because those that want to be the best will stop for nothing until they are the best. 

The emphasis on winning magnifies the issue of recruitment. It is such an essential part of every sport and without it, we would not enjoy the competitive nature of sports like we do today. This debate is relevant to all high school and collegiate athletes looking to make a profession out of their hobby, as well as all Major League Baseball clubhouses that are trying to bring home a championship to their city. Teams must make a decision on which ways they want to go about recruiting their athletes, while the athletes try their best to be put on a teams’ radar. Unlike other professional sports, one can skip college and declare straight for the draft out of high school. This makes the topic even more important because there is the potential of making a drastic impact on the life of an eighteen year old. I imagine that going from a high school student with no income, to a professional baseball player that is making millions of dollars is a life changing experience. A life changing experience that at times may be very stressful and overwhelming for someone so young. It is for sure a huge responsibility, and that is why teams must be smart and effective in the way they recruit as well as whom they recruit.

The option that gives Major League Baseball teams the best recruitment method is a combination of traditional scouting and statistical analysis. Traditional scouting is definitely more valuable in predicting a players’ future in the big leagues, but this combination of recruiting allows an organization to be able to evaluate the athlete from all aspects of the game and even beyond the game of baseball. Statistical analysis provides the details and analysis of prospects physical attributes and whether or not they are physically capable of competing at the highest level, while traditional scouting allows for a more personal interaction with the athlete that is missing with statistical analysis. The combination technique keeps in line with the traditionalist nature of baseball since scouting has always been an aspect of the game but also acknowledges how the evolution of technology can help make recruitment more efficient and accurate. 

