Interviews with New Scouting Director Bruce Seid -- Latest: Perfect Game

[Mass Haas]

WSSP Interview with New Scouting Director Bruce Seid

 

Very confident, and fun to listen to.

[TooLiveBrew]

First impression: Seid was very quick to point out (by name) the people working with him (& in most cases, assumedly for him)


On the massive amount of work that goes into a scouting department: "This particular situation came about because of the good things we've done in the organization for the last... 9-10 years. Obviously it started with Jack Zduriencik in 2000, and you know, we started drafting some pretty high-profile players that wound up being a pretty big part of what we're doing, and everyone had their input into it. We've had 4 scouts, including myself, [that] have gone on to other organizations to become scouting directors, and everything that we've done so far to this point has been.... we've been able to upgrade some of our scouts that have been with us for 15 years.

As a matter of fact, Doug Reynolds on the East Coast was an area scout for 15 [years; promoted to East Coast Crosschecker], Corey Rodriguez on the West Coast for 15 [promoted to West Coast Crosschecker], Ray Montgomery [Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting] has been with the Brewers for 7, & I've been with them for 12. When you think about the 4 guys that have been a part of this organization, and now are basically myself & the other 3 crosscheckers... we've got three guys that are 40 -- I'm 47 -- and we've got 50 years combined in scouting with this organization alone. There's not many organizations that can say that."


On the difference(s) between a scout & a crosschecker: "Well, the area scouts go out & they, you know, find the talent for you -- and you've gotta have good ones. I mean, you've gotta have guys that can go out & really dig, really know what the tools are and how the tools will play, you've gotta find out the make-up, and are able to really put it all together & say, 'This is a guy that's gonna help the Milwaukee Brewers become successful.' Now, all of us have done that -- myself... Doug, & Corey, & Ray. So we know, from a scout's standpoint... that job is probably one of the most important jobs in baseball.

But now as a crosschecker -- with the experience that they have -- they come in, and with the information they're getting from the area scout, now they're trying to evaluate those particular tools, the make-up, compared to other players in the full region. ... Corey does the West, Ray does the Center, and Doug does the East. So now they're not only looking at just a small portion, they're looking at a wide scale of the players in the country, and they're lining them up in their [own] opinion to see who the best player is."


On the influence of scouts relative to crosscheckers in the June draft/talent evaluation: "We highly value every scout's opinion -- you know, they see the guys more than I will, and the crosscheckers [will]. They may see them 5, 10, 15 times, and build a history up with a player. Now, we've instilled into our scouts how important it is to know each player... and we have good scouts. We have a couple young guys that are learning the trade right now, but they're learning under the tutelage of a Doug, of a Ray, of a Corey, of myself. So the confidence level that we have -- that I have -- in the scouts when they bring a player to the table, is very high.

As a scouting director, for instance, if I go out & see a player, I might see him one time, maybe twice. And if I don't see a guy [play] as well as they think [he does], but I see some of the things that they're talking about in that player, and [the scout is] able to tell me that, 'Hey, this guy is better than this, he's shown me this...', I have no doubt that what they're telling me probably makes sense in the long run. I've been there before; I know how that is, so I understand what they're trying to convey to me."


On the reward of seeing the young players the organization has scouted hit the big-time: "When I first started with the Brewers in '97 -- Corey & Doug were with them in like '93/'94 -- we'd go to games, as the Milwaukee Brewers scout and it really was, 'Ok, so yeah the Brewers are here, so what?' Now when the Brewers are at a game, [that] presence is there... and that's because of what we've done -- because of the hard work, the grind-it-out work that we do, and people take notice. That's a good feeling to know that when you're at a game, you're kind of separating yourself a little bit from some other organizations that I know are where we were 10-15 years ago. Now it's a different story -- we're very proud of what we've done; we've been doing a lot of stuff through the scouting end of things, and as I said... ownership, Doug Melvin, Gord Ash [all] believe in what we're doing, support us every which way possible, and that makes us feel real good as well."


On drafting strategies/philosophies: "We wanna get All-Stars. Our job is to help make this team a championship team. You know, personally, high school [vs.] college -- they come from all over. If there's an arm that can help us... win a championship sooner [rather] than later, we're gonna probably go for that arm. If there's a position player that is an All-Star type guy with tools, and is gonna bring people to their feet at the stadium, we're gonna be excited about that guy."


On some of 'his guys' coming up through the system (Lawrie, Jeffress, Escobar) -- how good is this wave of talent?: "That's a tough one to answer, because I really don't see a lot of those guys on a daily basis... but we're pretty excited about the players we have. For instance, I signed Taylor Green when he was a 25th-round draft pick, and when you think of [him] as a 25th-round draft pick, and then you see a Brett Lawrie & you see a Jeremy Jeffress, and we drafted some pretty good players in last year's draft who are maybe a couple more years away... I think you're going to see... a team that's going to be well-rounded from a pitching standpoint, from a defensive standpoint, as well as the hitting standpoint. It's hard to match Ryan Braun & Prince Fielder every draft -- that just doesn't happen all the time."

[Mass Haas]

Our own colbyjack with his excellent interview with Bruce Seid