05/20/2004  3:21 PM ET

Inside the Draft: The Scout, II
A first-person account from an area scout on the go

No one is busier this time of year than those in the scouting profession. Many consider area scouts to be the backbone of baseball, yet they tend to be the most anonymous, faceless and nameless contributors to the national pastime.

In the month leading up to the First-Year Player Draft, one area scout has agreed to provide a first-person account, of course in anonymity, of what he goes through to help his organization prepare for the draft. This is part two of a three-part series.

Inside the Draft: The Scout, Part 1

In my given area, which covers two states, I'd say there are 70 guys who are going to be drafted. That's from high picks to as low as they get, down around 50 rounds.

By this time, you're zeroing in on where you think they're going to fall in the draft. That's the main thing you have to do. That is a very complicated thing because in certain drafts, some kids are going to go higher than they would normally because of the talent in the country. This year is a pitcher's draft, so position players are at a premium.

That doesn't mean I'm looking only for position players. You're always looking for the best player, period. You don't care what he is, pitcher or position player. If things are equal, and you've got a top pitcher and a top position player, chances are you'll go with the position player. That's the hardest thing to find. Pitching by far dominates the prospect field out there.

The biggest thing now for us area scouts is to be sure there are no major changes, particularly injuries. You've already covered a player's talent level, everything as far as scouting him on the field. Now you want to be sure he's healthy as you get to the draft. You want to make sue there's not something there that's going to surprise the organization after you sign him. Every year, this happens to somebody. Every year, contracts get voided because of injury. No matter how well you try to research, sometimes they're there and they get by you. It definitely will affect a player's future.

Even though we've seen these players a number of times, it definitely happens that you can be surprised. Guys you were high on earlier in the year may cool off. Once you pull the trigger on recommending a guy, you've got to know: This is what I've seen, this is what I know the guy can do. Then there's the guy you didn't think was going to be there who all of a sudden comes out of nowhere and starts making a name for himself. Or a guy who you were high on, but other teams weren't, starts getting hot, so his stock rises and other teams notice. You have to deal with that as well.

When you update your reports, when you see a guy again, you're reporting that he may be doing something different, maybe there was something in an earlier report that he was having a problem, and now he's addressed it. You're painting a more complete picture of the guy as to what the cross-checker maybe has already seen and had a concern about. You're answering those concerns. These are guys you like, you want them at this point. So you're explaining to the powers that be exactly what these players can do.

For example, a cross-checker may come in to scout a guy's running speed or his arm strength. You've got to be able to 100 percent back that up with running times, arm speed, whatever it takes. Sometimes that means you have to work guys out before the draft, especially when it comes to running times. You have to find out what his 60 time is. You may see him play and never see him run. With pitchers, you've got the radar gun, but that's cut and dry. We'll go and time a guy to first base, that gives us a general idea of running speed. You can get a stealing time to second, but he may not run full out. So that means you're getting a false time, and you're left wondering, 'Can this guy run or not?' You better know what he can do because you're putting money on a fellow for a certain position.

This is the time of year you really get tired. You're doing signabilities, and you're still trying to scout. Everybody's on the road and on the phone constantly. That's the toughest part of scouting -- the signability aspect -- and the signing, naturally. You try to get a true read on if you draft this guy, can you sign him. That's a tough thing. It's a money issue, you have to know what you're doing.

But we'll get more into signability issues and getting to know a player's makeup in my final installment.