K2's question is also on our minds. If my understanding is correct part of the reason for an in house visit will help determine, amoung other things, the signability of the player involved. College vs Pro, monetary concerns. How have other posters handled the signability question?
Thanks.
Posts: 29 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: January 31, 2003
Simply weigh the college offer against what the pros are offering. In my son's case we made it clear that it would have taken 3rd or 4th round money minimum for him to even consider the minor leagues. The school, the schedule they play, the D-1 atmosphere was just too good to walk away from. If after 3 years in D-1 baseball he's not advanced enough to be considered a real pro prospect, then he probably wasn't going to make it anyway. In his case we deemed it better to serve his apprenticeship in college playing in some of the finest facilities, against some of the best teams in the nation than the tough life of minor league baseball ... at this stage in his life at least.
In college you have time to become a man, in the minor leagues you have to be a man the minute you sign the contract, not all are ready for that, my son wasn't. (unless of course the bonus was $ 500,000 plus! LOL!)
Unless your son is "the Stud" that everyone knows is a first rounder, do not expect the scouts to make an "offer" during an in-home visit. They will be wanting to determine your son's willingness to fore-go college to play professional baseball directly out of highschool.
They will also be making note of your neighborhood, your home's appearance, the financial situation and income of the parents as well as your son's relative state of "maturity".
Do expect them to possibly attempt to get you to state an amount of signing bonus that would entice your son to by-pass college. If you do offer an amount to the scout, they will be able to project if you are asking for a greater sum than the round where your son projects and then the "signability" factor is added into his draft round projection.
The scouts are professionals who are trained on how to conduct in-home interviews, you are a family that is more than likely experiencing it for the first and only time. If you have an "advisor"(probable agent) he should be able to school you on how to conduct yourself with the scouts.
Good luck and "enjoy the ride"!(you will hear this phrase more than one time during the Sr. year.
Send me your e-mail address in a Private Topic and I will be glad to share some of the pre-draft miscues which we made with our son.
OPP
Opinions are just like snowflakes- no 2 of them are EXACTLY alike(although they may appear to be similar.)
Posts: 839 | Location: TeXas | Registered: December 26, 2002
Thanks for the info. Have (hopefully)sent you my email. Appreciate you experience. Not anticipating offers to be made, looking for types of questions asked and opinions of how to handle.
thanks
Posts: 89 | Location: Colorado | Registered: September 15, 2003
In what way will the "neighborhood" and house and so on affect their decisions? Why is it a consideration?
_______________________ "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer
If you meet them with the truth you will do fine. They will figure it out if you are playing games. They have seen the games. The first few rounds pay lots of money. Nobody wants to make mistakes. Scouts have seen great players come from all kinds of neighborhoods and homes. Broken families that struggle and rich families that live in mansions. They want to know how interested you are in playing pro baseball right away. If it will take a million dollars or 10 thousand dollars for you to sign. The home visit is only one thing. There is other things scouts learn about a players worth and signability. If you get picked early enough you could make in one year what they make in twenty years. Scouts are not there to eat you alive.
Posts: 311 | Location: Florida | Registered: April 05, 2003
The scouts I would be a little "nervous" about are the scouts new to the business. As I've stated in the past, the scouts my family worked with by and large in the N. California area were some of the most professional people I have met. I can say without question that BBScout in regards to integrity, etc. is at the top of his profession. Having said that, after the player is drafted, the area scouts present the "offer". It is my experience that they are told what the initial offer will be, based on what the commissioner's office would like to see & club budgets. Most scouts try to get early signings. This is the "dangererous" period because the player's family really doesn't know what the market slot money will be until signings occur around his slot. This is where an advisor comes in and provides some guidance. Business is business, and one can't blame a club in trying to be as cost effective as possible, but a good advisor can keep things cool during negotiations. My point: Scouts have a job to do and we were fortunate in having quality scouts in our area. Sometimes negotiations can get bumpy, but that's not the scout's fault. He put his name on the line recommending the player, in essence he's your son's biggest fan up to the draft. After the draft, quality player representation is helpful for those who are new to the process. Take care.
Posts: 159 | Location: Nevada | Registered: January 02, 2003
No one has more respect for the scouting community than us. We have several scouts who used to work for MLB clubs.
Just like all other professions, Scouting has people that vary from excellent to bad. The very best are honest, hard working, talented people. They want to find and sign players. They often develop some life long friendships with those they sign. Making enemies is never in the best interest of the area scout.
Even working hard, doing a great job and being honest is sometimes not enough. In the past year, two good friends have lost their jobs. One very well respected baseball man, said the wrong thing while having a few drinks at a GM convention. The other, the scout who signed Albert Pujols a couple years ago for 30 grand, supposedly because of cut backs.
Good scouts are underpaid and there are some lazy scouts who are grossly overpaid.
An advisor may be valuable for a high draft pick, but he (the advisor) can't answer the most important question. Only the player and his parents know if professional baseball is an serious option out of high school. Then again, if they have an advisor, chances are, there's some interest.
Then you have the profession of advisors/agents to consider. If someone has little trust in the scouting profession, they should really beware of the agent profession. While there are several very good advisors/agents, there are a large number of those who could care less about the player. Many have placed their faith in the wrong people and have paid dearly.
Even the good agents understand the problem. So during the home visit don't worry about the scout. Do worry about who you get to be your advisor.
Posts: 4808 | Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa | Registered: December 27, 2002
I am presently going thru all of this right now, as we try to make a choice as to which Advisor/Agent to pick. All of your comments are very insightful and helpful. The problem we have is my son injured himself and had to have TJ surgery at the end of this summer. To make this worst, this up coming season will be his Senior Year in High School(what a bummer).
After the surgery we thought..... that it, it's over!! But the Advisors/Agents keep calling. They all tell us TJ surgery is not that big of a deal, MLB doesn't view TJ as a major problem etc. Well...... I find that hard to believe, in fact, to date only one MLB team has made an in home visit. So IMO there are other factors to factor in and in our case, there is a major one.
Posts: 22 | Location: decatur/ga/usa | Registered: January 29, 2003
However, I have a hunch about who your son is and if I'm right, he's one of those that could still be selected very early despite his physical condition.
Agent/advisors that tell you TJ Surgery is not that big of a deal, that MLB baseball doesn't view it as a problem... Are exactly the agents that I'm talking about in the above post. They know your son isn't worth the same money as before TJ surgery. But, he's still special and they still want some of what he might get!
It (Tommy John) is not a benefit, that's for sure! However, once again if I'm right, you will be getting many more home visits scheduled over the next few months.
It's nice to hear from parents that understand when there is a major concern. We keep hearing of all the great success stories regarding TJ surgery. Unfortunately, we don't hear about all those who don't come back stronger than ever.
Best of luck to your son.
Posts: 4808 | Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa | Registered: December 27, 2002
Carlos Quentin, of, Stanford, was a first round draft choice this year and he played the World Series with a bad arm and the scouts knew he is scheduled to have TJ surgery.
While it is dramatically different for an outfielder to have such surgery since there is a dh in the American League as opposed to a pitcher having this type of surgery...
It didn't affect him too much, i.e., being drafted, but maybe he would have been drafted higher and gotten more than the $1 million or so that he got without the prospect of surgery? Never know.
moc...just go to the little yellow icon on the righthand corner that has an open folder with an eraser on it..click it and it opens...you can delete the entire message or edit it as you wish.
Beenthere, I don't think we "non-moderator" types can delete a whole post, just remove our comments. It will show a blank.
_______________________ "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer
