Angels must hold draft with area scouts absent
They were furloughed June 1, meaning team will lack a pivotal intelligence network.
Even in its amended form, the Major League Baseball amateur draft Wednesday and Thursday promises to be one of the most exciting in recent years. The talent pool is widely considered the deepest in several years. A team in need of a significant boost to its farm system will not need to look too far to find a spark, even though the draft will last only five rounds.
But to stage a successful draft — that is, a draft in which the scouting department not only selects highupside players but also signs those draftees — a team must have a dependable staff of scouts. Only scouts know well what prospects are thinking leading up to and during the draft.
And for the first time in history, the Angels will not have that pivotal intelligence network. Their area scouts were furloughed June 1, said people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. After spending months preparing for a radically different draft and the cancellation of high school and college seasons, scouts were forced to unplug and cut ties with the players and families they had gotten to know.
They will watch the five rounds of the draft on television, detached from the decision-making by the front office.
“We are confident that the Angels have the information and personnel to have a successful draft,” team spokeswoman Marie Garvey said in a statement.
An American League executive said removing area scouts from his own draft room would cripple the process. Scouts have spent months, even years, vetting a player’s assets — both physical and intangible. They know how likely a player is to sign and for what price. Regional and national scouts are in charge of comparing prospects and don’t spend nearly as much time with individuals.
But there are factors that could lessen the effects of the depleted scouting department. Unlike previous years in which teams had 40 rounds to make selections, Angels amateur scouting director Matt Swanson has to worry only about making four picks at Nos. 10, 82, 111 and 141.
There is also the matter of the volume of information available. Data for many players stretch back years. The Angels could supplement their own research with the evaluations of respected independent organizations such as Perfect Game and Prep Baseball
Report.
The situation is not ideal, but the Angels’ draft might not be a lost cause. They furloughed 17 area scouts but still have 11 scouts in addition to Swanson on the payroll.
The Angels have a ways to go to refurbish a farm system that was ranked 16th by Baseball America and 26th by MLB.com in preseason evaluations.
Catching and pitching depth are the Angels’ most prominent weaknesses. The team has confidence in the emergence of minor league catchers Keinner Piña, Harrison Wenson and Franklin Torres, but none has established himself as a premier prospect.
Mock drafts have mostly linked the Angels to college pitchers in the first round, but the Athletic suggested the team might choose North Carolina State catcher Patrick Bailey, a college teammate of the Angels’ 2019 first-round pick, shortstop Will Wilson.
MLB.com anticipates the Angels going with Tennessee high school outfielder Robert Hassell III, who fits the mold of the five prep stars (Brandon Marsh, Jo Adell, Jordyn Adams, Jeremiah Jackson and Kyren Paris) the team took in the first two rounds the last four years. Baseball America’s mock draft has the Angels selecting University of Louisville left-handed pitcher Reid Detmers.