“Hey, how was your day at work?”
“Great…I went to two baseball games!”
Who would have thought that attending a baseball game could be considered work outside the foul lines of a baseball field. I was “asked” to attend four games this week to evaluate prospects that were playing in each of the games. Tough job you say? I would say this has to be the easiest job of all. What better than to have a job where you watch baseball games. This was one good side to being an agent, the rest is a little more difficult, or at least what I have heard. Another easy part was to make notes and watch the prospects play to evaluate if their talent level matched what was written in their scouting reports. I had to watch the players play and determine whether or not they have the potential to compete at a professional level. This is where the difficult aspect comes in. Determine if a high school baseball player can compete at a level where there are full-grown men playing? Simply answer…no! But, you have to look at the “potential” of that players talent. This was a reality check for me. I wasn’t evaluating these player’s against other high school player’s, or even college players. I had to evaluate these player’s at the Major League level. The player can be a high school stand-out, but if you see signs that they may not be able to compete professionally, then you do not contact that player. You have to look at these high school player’s in terms of an investment worth making for several years before you even see a slight return. Would you invest your hard earned money in a player that could possible compete at the professional level? This is where the tough decisions come into play. I was chosen for this mentorship to help the agency determine which players I felt had the potential of making it the big leagues. For example, a high profile high school centerfielder can show great on paper with their statistics, but if they play in a poor league or look like they cannot hit Clayton Kershaw slider then odds are they won’t make it. It is not my choice whether the player can make it, the game of baseball will determine that.
“Great…I went to two baseball games!”
Who would have thought that attending a baseball game could be considered work outside the foul lines of a baseball field. I was “asked” to attend four games this week to evaluate prospects that were playing in each of the games. Tough job you say? I would say this has to be the easiest job of all. What better than to have a job where you watch baseball games. This was one good side to being an agent, the rest is a little more difficult, or at least what I have heard. Another easy part was to make notes and watch the prospects play to evaluate if their talent level matched what was written in their scouting reports. I had to watch the players play and determine whether or not they have the potential to compete at a professional level. This is where the difficult aspect comes in. Determine if a high school baseball player can compete at a level where there are full-grown men playing? Simply answer…no! But, you have to look at the “potential” of that players talent. This was a reality check for me. I wasn’t evaluating these player’s against other high school player’s, or even college players. I had to evaluate these player’s at the Major League level. The player can be a high school stand-out, but if you see signs that they may not be able to compete professionally, then you do not contact that player. You have to look at these high school player’s in terms of an investment worth making for several years before you even see a slight return. Would you invest your hard earned money in a player that could possible compete at the professional level? This is where the tough decisions come into play. I was chosen for this mentorship to help the agency determine which players I felt had the potential of making it the big leagues. For example, a high profile high school centerfielder can show great on paper with their statistics, but if they play in a poor league or look like they cannot hit Clayton Kershaw slider then odds are they won’t make it. It is not my choice whether the player can make it, the game of baseball will determine that.
RSS Feed