Good Uses of Scouting?

Weaver's Wobble · 01-10-2008, 10:53 AM

I am trying my first league where I am using scouting. What should I have my scouts be doing? For now I am having my head scout scout my organization, and having my other scouts scout AAA and AA leagues.

Also, how do I scout the draft pools? One player at a time seems awful.

Grr. I also want to not get these darn development reports in my messages. Is there a way to turn that off?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Weaver's Wobble

Simmo13 · 01-10-2008, 12:06 PM

You can assign any of your scouts to scout the entire draft pool from the personnel page.Perhaps best to assign two or three scouts to get a better picture. I quite often use my scouts to "quick scout" free agents and waiver wire possibilities but I'm only running two eight-team major leagues and three levels of minors so I'm not scouting the rest of the world!!
Hope this helps, I'm sure you'll get lots of other opinions!

cbbl · 01-10-2008, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weaver's Wobble

I am trying my first league where I am using scouting. What should I have my scouts be doing? For now I am having my head scout scout my organization, and having my other scouts scout AAA and AA leagues.

Also, how do I scout the draft pools? One player at a time seems awful.

Grr. I also want to not get these darn development reports in my messages. Is there a way to turn that off?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Weaver's Wobble

It depends how complex your league and universe is. The more teams, the more minor-league levels, and the more ability to have foreign players, the more work your scouts have and thus the more you'll have to target their activities.

If you have a simple league, like I do (6 franchises, 2 levels of minors, and no foreign players), I can dedicate my top 3 or 4 scouts to rotating their review of each of the leagues. When time comes to scout the draft pool, I send 'em all.

Eventually, as the league grows, I'll have to be more discerning. At a minimum, I'd still send a least three scouts to scout the draft pool -- my top scout in hitting potential, my top scout in pitching potential, and one scout who's pretty decent at both.

Beyond that, your head scout automatically scouts your organization monthly, and your minor league scouts keep track of their respective teams.

I'll probably keep my top scouts rotating their assignments to scout each league, such that at least 2 - 3 times a season I get an updated report on every player. At the point their are too many teams or too many levels of minors to accomplish that, I'll pick and choose among those scouts -- maybe having one continually focus on the ML and AAA, one on AA and A, etc., or perhaps by assigning franchises.

At a minimum, I still like to get an update of scouting reports for all players in the league at least 2x per season, and 3x per year (once at the beginning, once at mid-season, once at the start of the off-season).

endgame · 01-10-2008, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weaver's Wobble

having my other scouts scout AAA and AA leagues.

Do you mean scouting individual teams in those leagues? If you're scouting just the AAA or just the AA, I'd like to know how you are accomplishing that task. I don't find a way to narrow their focus to just a single minor league.

james17 · 01-10-2008, 02:24 PM

I keep one scout rotating around the league and the others scouting foreign countries for talent. I have discovered a lot of foreign talent this way though it takes a while to uncover it.

wlight1 · 01-11-2008, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simmo13

You can assign any of your scouts to scout the entire draft pool from the personnel page.

Worth noting that you can only do this after the draft pool has been created & before the draft. I believe the length of time between those two events is a customizable setting set to 30 days by default.

zekester91 · 01-11-2008, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by endgame

Do you mean scouting individual teams in those leagues? If you're scouting just the AAA or just the AA, I'd like to know how you are accomplishing that task. I don't find a way to narrow their focus to just a single minor league.

There is a option to scout leagues, and it does allow scouting any league or minor league, I have one scout that scouts each of the leagues exepct the feeder leagues that take 2 to 3 years to do ( have a seprate scout for that).

cbbl · 01-11-2008, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zekester91

There is a option to scout leagues, and it does allow scouting any league or minor league, I have one scout that scouts each of the leagues exepct the feeder leagues that take 2 to 3 years to do ( have a seprate scout for that).

This was the point I was making also -- once a particular minor league is so large (has so many teams) that it takes a long time to scout, you'll have to start either using multiple scouts or settle for only scouting particular franchises, particular players, etc.

lencombs · 01-11-2008, 11:07 PM

I play with fictional players, in a modern MLB structure. Each MLB team has 1 AAA AA and single A minor team. I have 6 scouts.

My task list for my head scout is to scout each of my teams in my organization.

My next 2 scouts scout team by team in the majors, takes 10-12 days per team depending on their rating and between the two of them.

Next 2 scouts scout team by team AAA teams

Last scout I freelance with, usually scout teams minor league teams in my division.

I don't find much use out of most of the scout reports though, just use the quickscout if I am looking at a trade with my main scout.

Weaver's Wobble · 01-16-2008, 01:21 PM

This seems to work well for me.

Scout Major Leagues (head scout starts here)
Scout my organization
Scout International League (scout 1 starts here)
Scout my organization
Scout Pacific Coast League (scout 2 starts here)
Scout my organization
Scout Eastern League (scout 3 starts here)
Scout my organization
Scout Southern League (scout 4 starts here)
Scout my organization
Scout Texas League (scout 5 starts here)
Scout my organization
(loop to top)

This results in a 2.5 year loop when scouting the amateur draft is taken into account (which I do with all 6 scouts). If I lose a scout to retirement or screwing up, I still have multiple reports on all leagues to use as a basis for initial decision making or directing individual scouting.

koohead · 01-16-2008, 02:51 PM

I do something similar as Weaver...except I don't overlap my scouts. I assign my head scout to the MLB and the 2 Triple A leagus. then I have a scout assigned to Double A and single A's. I don't have anyone scouting Short A and Rookie level cuz honestly its too early to tell how those players will turn out anyway so I didn't waste time scouting them.
Then I have a scout assigned to foreign leagues and 1 assigned the 4 indy leagues.

I keep them on a cycle so my scouting reports tend to get updated twice a year.

I've stopped scouting countries because honestly my minor leagues are starting to fill up with top prospects. I think I'm going to make a house rule to only scout countries every 4 or 5 years or something.

Weaver's Wobble · 01-17-2008, 06:32 PM

I think scouting the Rookie and Short-A leagues is a waste of time and energy. I scouted these players pretty thoroughly at the draft stage, and that tells me who to quick-scout if I am interested in trading for one of them. I feel worse about doing that for A-ball, but something has to give.

01-10-2008, 10:53 AM	#1
Weaver's Wobble Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 18	Good Uses of Scouting? I am trying my first league where I am using scouting. What should I have my scouts be doing? For now I am having my head scout scout my organization, and having my other scouts scout AAA and AA leagues. Also, how do I scout the draft pools? One player at a time seems awful. Grr. I also want to not get these darn development reports in my messages. Is there a way to turn that off? Thanks in advance for the help. Weaver's Wobble

01-11-2008, 11:07 PM	#9
lencombs All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Eureka, Ca Posts: 535	I play with fictional players, in a modern MLB structure. Each MLB team has 1 AAA AA and single A minor team. I have 6 scouts. My task list for my head scout is to scout each of my teams in my organization. My next 2 scouts scout team by team in the majors, takes 10-12 days per team depending on their rating and between the two of them. Next 2 scouts scout team by team AAA teams Last scout I freelance with, usually scout teams minor league teams in my division. I don't find much use out of most of the scout reports though, just use the quickscout if I am looking at a trade with my main scout. __________________ "A passion for statistics is the earmark of a literate people." - Paul Fisher "Baseball isn't statistics. Baseball is (Joe) DiMaggio rounding second." - Jimmy Cannon

01-16-2008, 01:21 PM	#10
Weaver's Wobble Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 18	What I Finally Did This seems to work well for me. Scout Major Leagues (head scout starts here) Scout my organization Scout International League (scout 1 starts here) Scout my organization Scout Pacific Coast League (scout 2 starts here) Scout my organization Scout Eastern League (scout 3 starts here) Scout my organization Scout Southern League (scout 4 starts here) Scout my organization Scout Texas League (scout 5 starts here) Scout my organization (loop to top) This results in a 2.5 year loop when scouting the amateur draft is taken into account (which I do with all 6 scouts). If I lose a scout to retirement or screwing up, I still have multiple reports on all leagues to use as a basis for initial decision making or directing individual scouting.

01-16-2008, 02:51 PM	#11
koohead Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 3,233	I do something similar as Weaver...except I don't overlap my scouts. I assign my head scout to the MLB and the 2 Triple A leagus. then I have a scout assigned to Double A and single A's. I don't have anyone scouting Short A and Rookie level cuz honestly its too early to tell how those players will turn out anyway so I didn't waste time scouting them. Then I have a scout assigned to foreign leagues and 1 assigned the 4 indy leagues. I keep them on a cycle so my scouting reports tend to get updated twice a year. I've stopped scouting countries because honestly my minor leagues are starting to fill up with top prospects. I think I'm going to make a house rule to only scout countries every 4 or 5 years or something. __________________ GM - New Jersey Bears of the NPBL;

01-17-2008, 06:32 PM	#12
Weaver's Wobble Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 18	Re: Koohead I think scouting the Rookie and Short-A leagues is a waste of time and energy. I scouted these players pretty thoroughly at the draft stage, and that tells me who to quick-scout if I am interested in trading for one of them. I feel worse about doing that for A-ball, but something has to give.

01-10-2008, 12:06 PM	#2
Simmo13 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: those blue remembered hills Posts: 955	You can assign any of your scouts to scout the entire draft pool from the personnel page.Perhaps best to assign two or three scouts to get a better picture. I quite often use my scouts to "quick scout" free agents and waiver wire possibilities but I'm only running two eight-team major leagues and three levels of minors so I'm not scouting the rest of the world!! Hope this helps, I'm sure you'll get lots of other opinions!

01-10-2008, 02:24 PM	#5
james17 All Star Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,305	I keep one scout rotating around the league and the others scouting foreign countries for talent. I have discovered a lot of foreign talent this way though it takes a while to uncover it.