"Scouts at the game"

[statman0007]

I saw something the other day that said the Orioles had scouts at the Brewers game. Can someone explain to me what value there is in having an in-person scout at a major league baseball game? I feel like I could watch the tape of every AB of Jacob Nottingham's (or whoever they were there to see) career in the amount of time it took these scouts to travel to and watch him have 4 AB's at a Brewers game. I get the need for in-person scouting for high school and college games where teams wouldn't have access to high quality video, but I have to imagine teams have access to video for all major and minor league games.

[liveforoctober]

At bats are just about the last thing these scouts are here to see.

 

Using Nottingham as your example, how does he prepare for an at bat in the on deck circle? How does he react when he doesn't like an umpire's call? When he is in the dugout is he talking to his pitchers? Is he a nurturing personality on the field/in the dugout like Buster Posey? Hoo Rah Rah guy like Manny Pina? Wear your emotions on your sleeve like an AJ Pierzynski? Is he forming any kind of relationship with the ump while he is calling a game? How does he direct his infielders on cutoffs? How often is his pitcher shaking off his signs on payoff pitches?

 

Every position has its nuances and leadership needs, etc that are particular to how you want to build a ball club based on vision and current make up. You can't see any of this from a TV screen or in a box score and if you are David Stearns and are trying to make a run at a pennant ... it is worth a couple of thousand dollars to send a few guys to check in on guys like Happ and Lowrie and Dozier etc to get a better feel for what they are bringing and not just trust an old colleague who thinks he is a good dude, etc

 

Due diligence is important when rebuilding a culture or putting the finishing touches on one.