The annual First-Year Player Draft in June is like Christmas for scouts.
It’s a time when hard work; good behavior; preparation; and time spent grinding out the miles and nights away from home come to fruition.
It’s the period when the amateur scout begins to have a measurable impact on the club he (or she) works for.
It’s a time when they get to unwrap their presents: their name next to words ‘Signed by’ as these new draft picks start their professional careers.
Yes, it’s pretty big.
Major league clubs are built several ways and all of them include player evaluation as the backbone. But nothing is as gratifying as drafting players and then seeing them graduate to the big leagues.
The process saves money on the front end and helps with club control on the back-end. It inspires loyalty; players develop an affection for the club which gave them a chance to be a pro. From a club perspective, nothing is more cost-effective than acquiring impact talent through the draft.
‘Cost-effective impact’ has a pretty good ring to it, huh?
Still, you must be a better scout during the back of the draft than the front.
Impact? In no way is it limited to the first round. Players come from all over the draft. Take Josh Harrison (fifth round), Adam Frazier (sixth), Ross Stripling (fifth), and Rhys Hoskins (fifth).
When your team selects at the back of the draft and you have a chance to select an impact player in the first round, you do it.
I don’t care what the reasoning is against selecting him. If it’s a position of need, even better.
Don’t settle for safe. Grab the impact guy and run -- provided you know you can sign said player. To not do so defies all baseball logic. It also sells your organization short. Not to mention the fan base.
The Houston Astros found themselves this past June in a ‘high-ceiling, impact’ versus ‘safe, low floor’ debate.
They chose to pass on several players whom profiled as either a frontline starting pitcher or impact middle of the diamond defender with a plus bat; along with a player who might have been the best prep hitter in the draft.
Houston instead chose Seth Beer of Clemson. He's a left-hand hitting, limited-to-a-corner-defender- if-you’re-lucky, one-dimensional bat. Beer is similar to A.J. Reed, Tyler White, and others currently in the organization, but are blocked at the big league level and may not be tradable for any real ceiling or impact in exchange because the Astros held onto them for too long.
Well, the players the Astros passed on signed for similar bonuses as Beer’s.
To me, it’s like having dessert before dinner. You know you’ll be satisfied in the short term, but you’ll be hungry later.
This trend continued with the rest of Houston’s draft. The Astros may end up feeling quite empty in a few years.
This is a club which doe not traditionally spend major money in free agency. So, the draft is a really big deal.
Astute drafting is what got the Astros to this point; though the cupboard was left full by Bobby Heck (now the Rays’ special assistant to the General Manager) and David Post (the Padres’ special assistant to the General Manager, as well).
The Astros have a duty to restock that cupboard and keep the club competitive into the near future.
Looking back, I’m not convinced that happened.
We’ll all find out together in three or four years when we open that cupboard door.
Jeremy Booth is a former major league scout and KHOU 11's baseball analyst. The opinions expressed are his.
