[The Ringer] We Got Our Hands on 73,000 Never-Before-Seen MLB Scouting Reports

[43211234]

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/3/4/18249155/cincinnati-reds-scouting-report-series-part-1-data-findings

 

 

Thought this article would be of interest here. Especially with the Radio Scouts discussing scouting grades in the past.

 

Didn't post in the Around Baseball thread because this place could use more threads outside of those aggregate ones.

[Laika]

Wow!

[P2F]

Jeff Bagwell, age 22 (January 1, 1991): Non roster player, wears contact lenses...can’t play 3B, but looks like he can play 1B...no range, arm erractic...slow feet & may have trouble on the DP & bunts...strictly a tool player (Bat) trying to pull the ball & get some power...will have to hit a lot to help a team...not for us.

 

Yikes. That scouting report did not age well. Also, lol at "wears contact lenses".

[Boxcar]

This did not improve my opinion of scouts.

[Laika]

The non-correlation between "OFP" and actual MLB productivity is absolute murder of the 1990s scout.

[Boxcar]

It actually annoys me greatly that scouts include a rating for make up, as if they know the kid at all.

[tercet]

Running the wayback machine on the old forum from 10 years ago is the same as an article like this.

 

Bts, me thinking David Cooper would be something

 

Bts, Njh thinking Hech would be something

 

Njh thinking TDA would be something

 

The entire forum thinking JPA would be a stud

 

Njh in 2009 saying my takes are terrible, Njh in 2018 saying my takes are terrible

 

Etc

[Boxcar]

Running the wayback machine on the old forum from 10 years ago is the same as an article like this.

 

Bts, me thinking David Cooper would be something

 

Bts, Njh thinking Hech would be something

 

Njh thinking TDA would be something

 

The entire forum thinking JPA would be a stud

 

Njh in 2009 saying my takes are terrible, Njh in 2018 saying my takes are terrible

 

Etc

 

Your takes are risk averse and boring as f***. We don't really need you around to inform us that most prospects don't pan out.

[tercet]

Your takes are risk averse and boring as f***. We don't really need you around to inform us that most prospects don't pan out.

So I should just aim for the sky delusionally and insult everyone that disagrees with me, then deny it ever happened like njh has done for 10 years?

[tercet]

2008 Draft Thread - https://web.archive.org/web/20080531063503/http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-bluejays&tid=51365

 

Or a thread with >5000 posts to fire Gibbons started by ECJF in 2007(whatever happened to him? For like 10 years he posted 100x a day on old forum)

https://web.archive.org/web/20070812155006/http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=ml-bluejays

[Rusty_Savage]

So I should just aim for the sky delusionally and insult everyone that disagrees with me, then deny it ever happened like njh has done for 10 years?

 

Maybe stop beating your own chest while pointing out the obvious

[Laika]

I know I shouldn't tease the imp, but Hech and TDA were/are something. Both MLB quality players!

[TheHurl]

"One scout was so bad at grading pitchers that his evaluations were actually significantly negatively correlated with pitcher WARP—the worse he thought they would be, the better they actually were."

 

I quit in 1995. The other scouts were making fun of my 30 rating on Greg Maddux's command

[TheHurl]

What's worse 1990's scouts or Tercet's recollection on things?

[Dick_Pole]

Yikes. That scouting report did not age well. Also, lol at "wears contact lenses".

 

Ha, either Boston's scout or some team's scout that recommended not giving up a middling reliever for him.

 

Also, I can just smell the salty jealous rage of people here angry that some regular fat dudes got paid for decades to sit in baseball stadiums and be wrong about prospects, with the hardest part of their job holding up a radar gun.

[Pendleton]

What's worse 1990's scouts or Tercet's recollection on things?

 

I don't feel sorry for 90s scouts

[Boxcar]

Ha, either Boston's scout or some team's scout that recommended not giving up a middling reliever for him.

 

Also, I can just smell the salty jealous rage of people here angry that some regular fat dudes got paid for decades to sit in baseball stadiums and be wrong about prospects, with the hardest part of their job holding up a radar gun.

 

Scouting is a pretty s*** job. I am not jealous in the least.

 

Also, the hardest part of their job I'd say is definitely the insane amount of traveling and living out of cheap hotels.

[43211234]

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/3/6/18252369/cincinnati-reds-scouting-report-series-part-2-player-projections

 

Part 2: Talking to Travis Hafner, David Ross, Ben Davis, Jeff Schmidt about their careers and prospect status

[Dick_Pole]

Also, the hardest part of their job I'd say is definitely the insane amount of traveling and living out of cheap hotels.

 

Not if you're a serial killer of hookers. 90% of all unsolved murders in the United States can be attributed to baseball scouts.

[Frag]

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/3/6/18252369/cincinnati-reds-scouting-report-series-part-2-player-projections

 

Part 2: Talking to Travis Hafner, David Ross, Ben Davis, Jeff Schmidt about their careers and prospect status

 

Roy Oswalt, age 21 (August 1, 1999): Shows occ. arm strength. Has short tight bite on slider(78-79). FB is cons. flat thru zone. Wild around zone. Don’t missmany bats. CB(66-68) Has long lazy break and lacks command. Slider(78-79) stays in zone and gets hit. Change(73-75) is up in zone. Slows arm and delivery. Lacks deception. Cons. get hit with all pitches. Has no value to Reds. AA tops. Role: Org. 5th starter.

 

Oh dear...

[Orgfiller]

Oh dear...

 

For reference, this guy who "don't miss many bats" had K/9s of 8.5, 9.7 and 9.9 in his minor league career.

[Frag]

For reference, this guy who "don't miss many bats" had K/9s of 8.5, 9.7 and 9.9 in his minor league career.

 

Most 1990s scouts were dumn

[Deadpool]

For reference, this guy who "don't miss many bats" had K/9s of 8.5, 9.7 and 9.9 in his minor league career.

 

To be fair, numbers hadn't been invented yet.

[Jimcanuck]

Meh, things are just a bit better today. There will still be busts and surprises.

[43211234]

Part 3: https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/3/8/18255453/cincinnati-reds-scouting-reports-series-part-3

 

Scouting in today's game

[Captain Adama]

I've been loving this series.

 

It makes me all that much more curious what private metrics many MLB analytics offices use.

[TheHurl]

For reference, this guy who "don't miss many bats" had K/9s of 8.5, 9.7 and 9.9 in his minor league career.

 

and was a top 10 prospect for the team already. It's not like he wasn't a known quantity. That Battle Cats team had 4 major league starters on it and the lowest ERA on the team was Oswalt at 4.46 (Johan Santana was 4.66, Tim Redding 4.97 and Gallo 5.85). Do yourself a favour and check out Aaron McNeal's season with that team.