06/03/2004  4:14 PM ET

Inside the Draft: The Scout, III
A final installment from our 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. In this final installment of the series, the scout details what he has to go through to learn everything he can about a prospect.

Inside the Draft: The Scout, Part 1 | Part 2

You try to develop some kind of history with the kid. Ideally, you've followed him through high school and into college, if he goes to college. You pretty much know his makeup and his background. You have to have some kind of feel for it. For a high school kid, you go to counselors, coaches, whatever. Also, you need to build a relationship with the family, so you get a good idea of the family background. That gives you a read on what the kid might be like.

It doesn't matter how well you do it. Sometimes, a kid is going to make a liar out of you. You stake your job on him and he lets you down. It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen in this business. That's one of the toughest things you have to do. You can scout him, his tools and his talent, but you have to put that other half of the circle together to have a complete ballplayer.

Most clubs give psychological tests now. Most teams have sports psychologists who rate those tests. They pretty much have a handle on these kids before they're drafted. Sports psychology has become a big thing in sports, not just baseball, because of clubs getting burned by guys. They think they know his makeup, but when he's put out in a different situation, they find out they don't. It also helps once you get him in the organization, and problems arise, then you have something to fall back on, something that might give you the answer to why these things happen.

The biggest thing you have to do as an area scout, especially if you've got guys that are going to go in the top 10 rounds, you have to know whether you can sign him. It becomes a money issue. You have to know if he wants to go out, or if he's playing pro baseball against college baseball. If he's playing you vs. college, let him go to college. So the first thing you have to find out is if he wants to go. Then it becomes, 'Can I sign you if you go in a certain round?' Everyone knows what the money is in each round, basically. It's no secret anymore. There are exceptions, like a two-sport star who slides because you're not sure if he's going to play football, and you pay him where he would've been taken if you knew he was going to play baseball. They have to give you some kind of communication that you can take to your club that says, 'If you take him in this round, I can sign him.'

The signing process begins almost immediately. The longer you wait to try to sign a guy, the more you can run into problems. All situations are different, but most of them, if you have the right relationship, and they trust you and you can trust them, things can go real smoothly. That's why the area scout has to lay that groundwork and build that trust.

You're a team player. Naturally, you'd like to get your players. But it's a collective deal where everybody's involved in picking. The area scout, he sets his guys up, then the cross-checkers and the scouting director, they collectively decide how they're going to fall. As an area scout, I can't compare my guy to the guy in another area. I haven't seen him. I'm going to think my guy is the best. That's where the cross-checker and scouting director come in. They make the decision. And you have to accept that decision.

You always have at least one 'gut feeling' guy, the guy you really want. And often, you end up disappointed when somebody else takes him. Some guys you just like better than the others: 'This is my guy; I really want this guy. If you get him, you get him. After a while, you don't worry about it. It's out of your hands come draft day. It's a done deal and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. I'd say, probably more often than not, we'll get the guy I really want.

The scouting director has to rely on the area scout, because he has the best feel for a kid. The cross-checker can scout his ability, but they don't have a feel for the kid. They don't have his makeup, etc. There comes a point in time where the club has to rely on the area scout's opinion. I'm sure track record has something to do with it. If a scout has a good track record, they're going to listen to you.

On draft day, it's like you're waiting in the maternity ward. That's about as close as I can come with a comparison. You're waiting to hear from them. You can follow it on the Internet now, but in years past, you're waiting for the phone to ring. And it doesn't ring. You have to be by the phone. That's what every scout has to do on draft day. He has to be reached at any time. There can be a last-minute question. Most of the time, they just call you up and tell you they took a certain guy. That's what it amounts to. They may tell you, get on the road right now and get in the house of the kid and try to sign him.