One thing that crossed my mind about "top prospects"

[ScotchMIrish]

Who calculates those team ratings?

Internal scouting
Who: Professional scouts employed by each MLB team. They assess players using a standardized scouting scale, with grades ranging from 20 to 80, and are responsible for the team's official prospect list.
How: Based on observable performance and data. Scouts grade players on a variety of tools (e.g., hitting, fielding, arm strength) and combine these to calculate an "Overall Future Potential" (OFP) score.
External rankings
Who: Media outlets like ESPN, FanGraphs, and Baseball America. These outlets often employ former front office executives and scouts to provide analysis. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is an example of an analyst who provides these rankings.
How: Based on a combination of data and subjective evaluation. These outlets analyze a combination of scouting reports, advanced data, and their own expert opinions to create their rankings for the public, as explained by FanGraphs and Baseball America.

I would approach those prospect rating with healthy skepticism before I made a trade based upon that. Those ratings could be doctored to make a prospect appear to be more appealing than he is for the intended purpose of trading him for better return.

[Carp4Cy]

Who calculates those team ratings?

Internal scouting
Who: Professional scouts employed by each MLB team. They assess players using a standardized scouting scale, with grades ranging from 20 to 80, and are responsible for the team's official prospect list.
How: Based on observable performance and data. Scouts grade players on a variety of tools (e.g., hitting, fielding, arm strength) and combine these to calculate an "Overall Future Potential" (OFP) score.
External rankings
Who: Media outlets like ESPN, FanGraphs, and Baseball America. These outlets often employ former front office executives and scouts to provide analysis. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is an example of an analyst who provides these rankings.
How: Based on a combination of data and subjective evaluation. These outlets analyze a combination of scouting reports, advanced data, and their own expert opinions to create their rankings for the public, as explained by FanGraphs and Baseball America.

I would approach those prospect rating with healthy skepticism before I made a trade based upon that. Those ratings could be doctored to make a prospect appear to be more appealing than he is for the intended purpose of trading him for better return.

Not to mention, internal scouts might have insider information about a prospect - injury risk, pain in shoulder, mental health, attitude, attention span and ability to learn, time spent at practice, hustle off the field, leadership/teammate qualities, etc that are never published. The prospect's coaches should always know more about a player they control than outside scouts can possibly garner from just watching on field performance.

[2ninr]

What's important is how you evaluate other teams prospects. As Scotch says, you can artificially inflate your own prospects scores.

[ScotchMIrish]

Who calculates those team ratings?

Internal scouting
Who: Professional scouts employed by each MLB team. They assess players using a standardized scouting scale, with grades ranging from 20 to 80, and are responsible for the team's official prospect list.
How: Based on observable performance and data. Scouts grade players on a variety of tools (e.g., hitting, fielding, arm strength) and combine these to calculate an "Overall Future Potential" (OFP) score.
External rankings
Who: Media outlets like ESPN, FanGraphs, and Baseball America. These outlets often employ former front office executives and scouts to provide analysis. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is an example of an analyst who provides these rankings.
How: Based on a combination of data and subjective evaluation. These outlets analyze a combination of scouting reports, advanced data, and their own expert opinions to create their rankings for the public, as explained by FanGraphs and Baseball America.

I would approach those prospect rating with healthy skepticism before I made a trade based upon that. Those ratings could be doctored to make a prospect appear to be more appealing than he is for the intended purpose of trading him for better return.

Not to mention, internal scouts might have insider information about a prospect - injury risk, pain in shoulder, mental health, attitude, attention span and ability to learn, time spent at practice, hustle off the field, leadership/teammate qualities, etc that are never published. The prospect's coaches should always know more about a player they control than outside scouts can possibly garner from just watching on field performance.

True. Speaking of scouts in 1966 my uncle and I attended a college game in Storm Lake, Iowa and a Cardinals scout was sitting next to us. He was scouting a shortstop on one of the teams. That player hit a home run to the opposite field and later struck out and threw his bat over the dugout. The manager came up to talk to the scout between games. The scout asked two questions. Was most of his power to the opposite field and did he display emotion at that level on a regular basis.

He also showed my uncle and I a seating chart of the brand new ballpark.

That was an interesting insight into what scouts look at.

[NYCardsFan]

Who calculates those team ratings?

Internal scouting
Who: Professional scouts employed by each MLB team. They assess players using a standardized scouting scale, with grades ranging from 20 to 80, and are responsible for the team's official prospect list.
How: Based on observable performance and data. Scouts grade players on a variety of tools (e.g., hitting, fielding, arm strength) and combine these to calculate an "Overall Future Potential" (OFP) score.
External rankings
Who: Media outlets like ESPN, FanGraphs, and Baseball America. These outlets often employ former front office executives and scouts to provide analysis. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is an example of an analyst who provides these rankings.
How: Based on a combination of data and subjective evaluation. These outlets analyze a combination of scouting reports, advanced data, and their own expert opinions to create their rankings for the public, as explained by FanGraphs and Baseball America.

I would approach those prospect rating with healthy skepticism before I made a trade based upon that. Those ratings could be doctored to make a prospect appear to be more appealing than he is for the intended purpose of trading him for better return.

No team is making trades based on "external" ratings, whether from another team or a third party. Those third-party/outisde ratings are a source of independent information/evaluation, just like sell-side research reports are in public equity and debt markets. Sophisticated market participants (in baseball, finance, etc.) often consume third-party research as additional input, but they don't make decisions based on it, and they certainly don't rely on their potential counterparties' evaluations.

[ScotchMIrish]

Who calculates those team ratings?

Internal scouting
Who: Professional scouts employed by each MLB team. They assess players using a standardized scouting scale, with grades ranging from 20 to 80, and are responsible for the team's official prospect list.
How: Based on observable performance and data. Scouts grade players on a variety of tools (e.g., hitting, fielding, arm strength) and combine these to calculate an "Overall Future Potential" (OFP) score.
External rankings
Who: Media outlets like ESPN, FanGraphs, and Baseball America. These outlets often employ former front office executives and scouts to provide analysis. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is an example of an analyst who provides these rankings.
How: Based on a combination of data and subjective evaluation. These outlets analyze a combination of scouting reports, advanced data, and their own expert opinions to create their rankings for the public, as explained by FanGraphs and Baseball America.

I would approach those prospect rating with healthy skepticism before I made a trade based upon that. Those ratings could be doctored to make a prospect appear to be more appealing than he is for the intended purpose of trading him for better return.

No team is making trades based on "external" ratings, whether from another team or a third party. Those third-party/outisde ratings are a source of independent information/evaluation, just like sell-side research reports are in public equity and debt markets. Sophisticated market participants (in baseball, finance, etc.) often consume third-party research as additional input, but they don't make decisions based on it, and they certainly don't rely on their potential counterparties' evaluations.

I suspect to some extent teams do rely on third party evaluations. When I see trade discussions I regularly see "so and so is the #... in the system".

[Ronnie Dobbs]

No team is making trades based on "external" ratings, whether from another team or a third party. Those third-party/outisde ratings are a source of independent information/evaluation, just like sell-side research reports are in public equity and debt markets. Sophisticated market participants (in baseball, finance, etc.) often consume third-party research as additional input, but they don't make decisions based on it, and they certainly don't rely on their potential counterparties' evaluations.

That's my thoughs as well. I mean, maybe they might use some of the external rankings to compare to their own, just to see if there might be something they missed. I have to think that teams who spend millions on an entire system to scout players and develop prospects aren't going to just subscribe to Baseball America and make decisions that way.

I'm pretty sure I've heard Derrick Goold talk about this. All teams have their own internal rankings, and not just for prospects. I'm just throwing out some names, but one team might think that JJ Wetherholt is the top prospect in the draft, while another might rank Trey Yesavage. Or Baseball America might rank some guy #1 in the Mariners system and the Cardinals make a trade instead for their #4 and people might wonder why, but maybe the Cardinals just might rank that #4 a lot higher.

[mattmitchl44]

Every team is relying on their own proprietary system for talent evaluation.

[NYCardsFan]

No team is making trades based on "external" ratings, whether from another team or a third party. Those third-party/outisde ratings are a source of independent information/evaluation, just like sell-side research reports are in public equity and debt markets. Sophisticated market participants (in baseball, finance, etc.) often consume third-party research as additional input, but they don't make decisions based on it, and they certainly don't rely on their potential counterparties' evaluations.

That's my thoughs as well. I mean, maybe they might use some of the external rankings to compare to their own, just to see if there might be something they missed. I have to think that teams who spend millions on an entire system to scout players and develop prospects aren't going to just subscribe to Baseball America and make decisions that way.

I'm pretty sure I've heard Derrick Goold talk about this. All teams have their own internal rankings, and not just for prospects. I'm just throwing out some names, but one team might think that JJ Wetherholt is the top prospect in the draft, while another might rank Trey Yesavage. Or Baseball America might rank some guy #1 in the Mariners system and the Cardinals make a trade instead for their #4 and people might wonder why, but maybe the Cardinals just might rank that #4 a lot higher.

Third-party research (whether in baseball, finance, or other industries) often can be useful for cross-checking, but it’s not a surrogate for internal research/analysis.

[renostl]

Who calculates those team ratings?

Internal scouting
Who: Professional scouts employed by each MLB team. They assess players using a standardized scouting scale, with grades ranging from 20 to 80, and are responsible for the team's official prospect list.
How: Based on observable performance and data. Scouts grade players on a variety of tools (e.g., hitting, fielding, arm strength) and combine these to calculate an "Overall Future Potential" (OFP) score.
External rankings
Who: Media outlets like ESPN, FanGraphs, and Baseball America. These outlets often employ former front office executives and scouts to provide analysis. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is an example of an analyst who provides these rankings.
How: Based on a combination of data and subjective evaluation. These outlets analyze a combination of scouting reports, advanced data, and their own expert opinions to create their rankings for the public, as explained by FanGraphs and Baseball America.

I would approach those prospect rating with healthy skepticism before I made a trade based upon that. Those ratings could be doctored to make a prospect appear to be more appealing than he is for the intended purpose of trading him for better return.

It's just not close to being a science and it almost doesn't matter who is
doing it, within the professional scouts circle.

I think if it was a higher percent of first, second, and third round draft picks would spend 3 years
in MLB.

1st 46%
2nd 31%
3rd 21%

https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-ch ... ive-study/

[NYCardsFan]

Who calculates those team ratings?

Internal scouting
Who: Professional scouts employed by each MLB team. They assess players using a standardized scouting scale, with grades ranging from 20 to 80, and are responsible for the team's official prospect list.
How: Based on observable performance and data. Scouts grade players on a variety of tools (e.g., hitting, fielding, arm strength) and combine these to calculate an "Overall Future Potential" (OFP) score.
External rankings
Who: Media outlets like ESPN, FanGraphs, and Baseball America. These outlets often employ former front office executives and scouts to provide analysis. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is an example of an analyst who provides these rankings.
How: Based on a combination of data and subjective evaluation. These outlets analyze a combination of scouting reports, advanced data, and their own expert opinions to create their rankings for the public, as explained by FanGraphs and Baseball America.

I would approach those prospect rating with healthy skepticism before I made a trade based upon that. Those ratings could be doctored to make a prospect appear to be more appealing than he is for the intended purpose of trading him for better return.

No team is making trades based on "external" ratings, whether from another team or a third party. Those third-party/outisde ratings are a source of independent information/evaluation, just like sell-side research reports are in public equity and debt markets. Sophisticated market participants (in baseball, finance, etc.) often consume third-party research as additional input, but they don't make decisions based on it, and they certainly don't rely on their potential counterparties' evaluations.

I suspect to some extent teams do rely on third party evaluations. When I see trade discussions I regularly see "so and so is the #... in the system".

You regularly see "so and so is the #... in the system" because that is the publicly available information to which the reporter has access.

[ecleme22]

Who calculates those team ratings?

Internal scouting
Who: Professional scouts employed by each MLB team. They assess players using a standardized scouting scale, with grades ranging from 20 to 80, and are responsible for the team's official prospect list.
How: Based on observable performance and data. Scouts grade players on a variety of tools (e.g., hitting, fielding, arm strength) and combine these to calculate an "Overall Future Potential" (OFP) score.
External rankings
Who: Media outlets like ESPN, FanGraphs, and Baseball America. These outlets often employ former front office executives and scouts to provide analysis. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is an example of an analyst who provides these rankings.
How: Based on a combination of data and subjective evaluation. These outlets analyze a combination of scouting reports, advanced data, and their own expert opinions to create their rankings for the public, as explained by FanGraphs and Baseball America.

I would approach those prospect rating with healthy skepticism before I made a trade based upon that. Those ratings could be doctored to make a prospect appear to be more appealing than he is for the intended purpose of trading him for better return.

No good organization blindly trusts other organizations.

If Bloom has a good system, his team knows what players they want in other orgs. Dark horses, diamonds in the rough, etc.

[ramfandan]

No different than NFL .. Teams don’t draft guys by ranking of Mel Kiper or Todd McShay …lol

[Carp4Cy]

No different than NFL .. Teams don’t draft guys by ranking of Mel Kiper or Todd McShay …lol

Does MLB hold a combine?

[ScotchMIrish]

Who calculates those team ratings?

Internal scouting
Who: Professional scouts employed by each MLB team. They assess players using a standardized scouting scale, with grades ranging from 20 to 80, and are responsible for the team's official prospect list.
How: Based on observable performance and data. Scouts grade players on a variety of tools (e.g., hitting, fielding, arm strength) and combine these to calculate an "Overall Future Potential" (OFP) score.
External rankings
Who: Media outlets like ESPN, FanGraphs, and Baseball America. These outlets often employ former front office executives and scouts to provide analysis. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is an example of an analyst who provides these rankings.
How: Based on a combination of data and subjective evaluation. These outlets analyze a combination of scouting reports, advanced data, and their own expert opinions to create their rankings for the public, as explained by FanGraphs and Baseball America.

I would approach those prospect rating with healthy skepticism before I made a trade based upon that. Those ratings could be doctored to make a prospect appear to be more appealing than he is for the intended purpose of trading him for better return.

No team is making trades based on "external" ratings, whether from another team or a third party. Those third-party/outisde ratings are a source of independent information/evaluation, just like sell-side research reports are in public equity and debt markets. Sophisticated market participants (in baseball, finance, etc.) often consume third-party research as additional input, but they don't make decisions based on it, and they certainly don't rely on their potential counterparties' evaluations.

I suspect to some extent teams do rely on third party evaluations. When I see trade discussions I regularly see "so and so is the #... in the system".

You regularly see "so and so is the #... in the system" because that is the publicly available information to which the reporter has access.

Likely the case.

[ScotchMIrish]

Who calculates those team ratings?

Internal scouting
Who: Professional scouts employed by each MLB team. They assess players using a standardized scouting scale, with grades ranging from 20 to 80, and are responsible for the team's official prospect list.
How: Based on observable performance and data. Scouts grade players on a variety of tools (e.g., hitting, fielding, arm strength) and combine these to calculate an "Overall Future Potential" (OFP) score.
External rankings
Who: Media outlets like ESPN, FanGraphs, and Baseball America. These outlets often employ former front office executives and scouts to provide analysis. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel is an example of an analyst who provides these rankings.
How: Based on a combination of data and subjective evaluation. These outlets analyze a combination of scouting reports, advanced data, and their own expert opinions to create their rankings for the public, as explained by FanGraphs and Baseball America.

I would approach those prospect rating with healthy skepticism before I made a trade based upon that. Those ratings could be doctored to make a prospect appear to be more appealing than he is for the intended purpose of trading him for better return.

No good organization blindly trusts other organizations.

If Bloom has a good system, his team knows what players they want in other orgs. Dark horses, diamonds in the rough, etc.

I remember when the Cardinals were hacking Luhnow's computer to get his ratings data.