Job Posting: Mariners Professional Scout
Job Title: Professional Scout
Department: Professional Scouting
Reports To: Manager, Player Personnel (in addition to VP, Scouting)
Status: Full-time
Dates: Must be available to start by March 15th, 2020. Relocation to Phoenix, Arizona is desirable but not required.
Primary Objective: Support the professional scouting department in all facets of player evaluation.
Essential Functions:
- Provide written evaluations on players, with coverage to be assigned by management.
- Support the professional scouting department with video research and ad hoc special assignments, including Prospect Lists and Players of Interest.
- Assist amateur and international scouting departments on an as-needed basis.
Education and Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree strongly preferred. Equivalent relevant work or playing experience may be considered in lieu of formal education if approved by management.
- Spanish speaking is a plus, but not required.
- Background in player evaluation is a plus, but not required.
Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA’s):
- Working knowledge of baseball skill sets and their roles in player evaluation.
- Working knowledge of the baseball industry and current in-game trends.
- Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
- High degrees of self-motivation and integrity. Willingness to accept personal responsibility for accomplishing objectives in a way that positively represents the organization.
- Demonstrated initiative and creative thinking skills.
Physical Activities and Working Conditions:
- Willing to travel occasionally and as needed 10-20 days a month.
- Standing long periods of time in outside conditions.
To Apply:
For your application to be considered complete, you must finish your application by following this link for the video portion of the Mariners’ hiring process.
Interested and qualified applicants may apply through this link.
Meg is the editor-in-chief of FanGraphs and the co-host of Effectively Wild. Prior to joining FanGraphs, her work appeared at Baseball Prospectus, Lookout Landing, and Just A Bit Outside. You can follow her on Bluesky @megrowler.fangraphs.com.
“Spanish speaking is a plus, but not required.”
This is genuinely weird. Given how many players only speak Spanish, I would think speaking Spanish would be pretty much mandatory.
It’s professional scouting, not amateur or international, so presumably there’s less focus on meeting the family and determining “make-up”; the guys in the union are older and fewer of them are Spanish-only (at least away from microphones and off the record). My impression is that pro scouting these days involves looking at statcast data as much as actually talking to people.
It still would be a significant asset (though for the Mariners historically Japanese might be almost as significant) but I could see why they don’t consider it a hard requirement.
The biggest requirement might be the ability to “let go” of the players you scouted when Jerry inevitably trades them away (though maybe for players you also scouted).