Prospecting for Gold

On the surface, the General Manager's position in professional baseball seems glamorous, but behind the scenes, it's an extremely difficult and all-inclusive position. A GM is responsible for all decision-making aspects of a baseball franchise with the main goal of delivering a championship team to ownership. Some of those responsibilities include the following: the hiring and firing of coaching staff, player development, scouting, negotiating contracts, mediating player disputes, as well as being involved with the selling of tickets, television, radio sponsorships, and merchandise for the club. If all of this wasn't enough, a GM will represent an organization at league meetings, salary arbitration, negotiate with agents, prepare for amateur drafts, manage payroll, and comply with the rules of the collective bargaining agreement. A successful General Manager will serve as a bridge between the Chairman of the Board and the management staff. By expressing an overall vision and developing a team mission, the GM will show leadership; this attribute allows the GM to successfully identify team needs and provide solutions.

The General Manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, Doug Melvin, stated that he doesn't interact with players as frequently as when he was an Assistant Scouting Director or Director of Player Development. Therefore, he feels that it's extremely important to trust an organization's scouts and player development personnel. In his current role, he shared that the hardest aspect of his position is addressing rumors associated with social media. Additionally, he acknowledged that dealing with player agents can sometimes be problematic. Mr. Melvin's philosophy is to be a strong draft and player development organization. Being a small-market club, the revenue generated for television is less than the large market teams. This creates more of a priority in maintaining a high fan base in Milwaukee. From a player standpoint, the Milwaukee General Manager looks for youth up the middle (SS, CF, C, P). His desire is to develop home-grown talent and be able to trade prospects for major league ready players. By accomplishing this, the Brewers can look to be competitive without risking payroll on high-priced free agents. Sometimes, there is a need for a free agent, but Melvin confirmed that the small-market team cannot be aggressive like large-market franchises. This overall mindset has led to some success for Brewers, but Doug Melvin feels the biggest challenge for a franchise is sustaining success.

Another baseball operations role that contributes to a successful club is player development.

The Assistant Director of Baseball Operations for the New York Yankees, Billy Hart, played college baseball at USC and was subsequently drafted by the Houston Astros in the 5th round of the 2005 draft. After five seasons, Billy was released and went back to school. After completing his MBA, Mr. Hart started his second career in baseball via the operations side. Some of his responsibilities include: player logistics for spring training, player placement, roster management, contract origination, and talent evaluation. During the season, Billy will go to each minor league affiliate before and after the All-Star break to evaluate players based upon performance and trade evaluation. In the off-season, the Assistant Director of Baseball Operations will work on free-agent contracts, manage department budgets, and conduct financial and statistical analysis. Also, Mr. Hart will go to amateur tournaments and compile a prospect analysis book. He takes the responsibility for putting together organizational structures aimed at player performance. 

For an on-the-field perspective, I spoke to the hitting coach of the AA Chattanooga Lookouts, Orv Franchuk. Orv was gracious enough to explain what a typical work day for him is like: review practice and game footage of players' at-bats, conduct specific player hitting drills, overhand toss, tee work, traditional batting practice, and charting hitters’ performance. Mr. Franchuk described today's player as being more refined, but the mental side of the game should be more of a focus at the minor league level. He suggested that mental makeup is what separates a AA player from a major league player. The Lookouts hitting instructor looks for a strong work ethic. Orv encourages players to work on a game plan before they come to the plate, for example, working on pitch selection, location, and various game situations. Orv said "A lot of AA players have the physical ability for the majors, but not the mental ability." Mr. Franchuk emphasized that the most important part of his job is to develop trusting relationships with his players. By encouraging players to be better communicators and staying open to suggestions, the players will adjust to expected failure as they progress to higher levels of ball. 

Continuing with the top-down approach, you must look at one of the most important aspects of a successful franchise: scouting. It's often said by various front office personnel that scouting is the "life-blood" of the game. These people find the talent and project a player's raw tools that hopefully will translate into big league skills. The scouting hierarchy is as follows: Associate Scout, Area Scout, Regional Supervisor, National Cross-Checker, Assistant Director of Scouting, and Director of Scouting. In most organizations, player information flows up the chain of command to the Director of Player Development or the General Manager. Additionally, Pro Scouts and Special Assignment Scouts might report directly to either Director or the General Manager. Regardless of your level or title, your main objective is to make an opinion based upon the players that you see. Scouts come in all shapes and sizes, some are former players, and some just started at the bottom and worked their way up. Credibility is established based upon your professionalism, ability to scout, and communicating your reports effectively.

 Hudson Belinsky, Associate Scout for the Tampa Bay Rays got his start by going to games and doing his own scouting reports. He started a blog and subsequently received an internship opportunity with Baseball Prospectus. On one occasion, Hudson travelled two hours to see a particular pitcher and his passion was recognized by a scout in attendance. This scout appreciated Hudson's initiative and recommended him. 

Bryan Hayes, Assistant Manager to Amateur Scouting Director for the New York Mets started as a bat boy  for the Norfolk Tides and subsequently became a student manager for Charlie Weis at Notre Dame. Based upon that experience, Bryan got a position with the San Diego Padres in the Community Relations department and was noticed by Paul Depodesta, VP of Scouting and Player Development, who brought him over to the New York Mets. Prior to the 2013 draft, Mr. Hayes was responsible for registering each player with an identification number and writing up a biography of those players. Currently, he's helping the organization prepare for the 2014 draft by reading all scouting reports, following up with area scouts, and making sure the scouting reports can be used effectively by the Director of Scouting. Once the 2014 draft is completed, Bryan will resume scouting duties and see players approximately two times per month. Mr. Hayes looks for tools, mental make-up, and body type to complete a player profile. By looking at potential prospects, Bryan makes a determination regarding the player's desire. Mr. Hayes stated, "The player could have all the talent, but you have to want it.”

RJ Carvis, Video Coordinator of Player Development for the Los Angeles Dodgers started as a Division III College Pitcher and eventually became a fall roster walk on for Arizona State University. While playing in the Coastal Plains League, RJ hurt his arm, which ended his baseball dreams as a player. After his playing career ended, Mr. Carvis was able to get a Spring training job with the Oakland Athletics in their stadium operations department and subsequently got an intern opportunity with the New York Mets media operations. RJ is currently assigned to a minor league affiliate within the Dodgers organization and he is responsible for video scouting reports on players. Mr. Carvis likes to look for little things when scouting players: for example, the difference between head movement and hand movements of hitters in warm-ups versus live game action. RJ stated, "The natural talents shine through when a player makes small adjustments.”

Taking all this information into consideration, I would like to make a personal assessment of the Atlanta Braves organization. The original Braves ball club was established in 1871 and has been in Atlanta since 1966. In 2017, they will relocate to a $672 million complex. From 1991-2005, the Atlanta Braves won fourteen consecutive division titles. In their history, they have won sixteen division titles, seventeen National League Pennants, and three World Series. They remain the only Major League Baseball franchise to win the World Series in three different cities. In 2013, the Braves were the National League East Champions with a record of 96-66. Their home attendance was approximately 2.6 million with an average of 31,000 fans per game and an average ticket price of approximately $17. According to Forbes Magazine, the franchise was valued at $629 million, with a 2013 payroll of approximately $90 million and revenue of approximately $225 million. In the last three years, the Braves have drafted and signed approximately 94 players. Out of the total, 49 have been pitchers, 12 outfielders, 10 catchers, and 8 shortstops. Additionally, only 13 were high-school players. It would appear that their drafting strategy follows the idea of being strong up the middle and having more seasoned prospects.

In regards to the structure and behavior of this team, the Braves strive for consistency. Whether it's in the draft, player development, front office, or on-the -field personnel, the Braves strive to hold onto their home grown talent and maintain strong leadership. With the most recent long-term signings of Craig Kimbrel, Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, Julio Teheran, and contract extensions given to Frank Wren, General Manager, and Fredi Gonzalez, Manager, it is clearly evident that John Schuerholz, the President, as well as ownership, have a shared vision of continued success.

Regardless of all the smart front-office moves, nothing would be possible without the scouting department. The Director of Scouting, Tony Demacio, looks for players who "dance in the middle of the diamond”and subscribes to the "old school" ideology of finding players that "can't live without the game." Tony said, "They play the game the way it should be played, hard." Also, he adheres to the previous Scouting Director Paul Snyder's philosophy to build a club around pitching. In his opinion, the Atlanta Braves scouts have done a very good job of getting inside the home of potential prospects to find those high character players. By adhering to an honest, professional, and discreet approach, the scouting staff has been very successful over the years. Overall, this windfall of talent has resulted in raw prospects transitioning into Major League stars.