Sorta OT: Greg Maddux HS Scouting Report

This link includes the report that Doug Mapson-the guy who found Brandon Belt-wrote about Greg Maddux

about 1 year ago Gobroks 13 comments 0 recs |

Comments

Great stuff

For the record, that’s actually the reports from 2 different scouts. Mapson’s is the top report and the other scout is the bottom one. I can see why Sabes likes Mapson so much – he’s not afraid to take bold stances. He wasn’t afraid to state that he thought Maddux should be the #1 pitcher drafted, when no other scout in the country thought that Maddux was worth more than a late 1st round pick at best.

"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner

by Fla-Giant on Mar 12, 2011 12:11 PM PST reply actions

I take that back

Mapson clearly stated that Maddux should be the #1 pick overall, not just the #1 pitcher.

Here’s the 1st sentence of his report:

I really believe that this boy would possibly be the number 1 player taken in the country if only he looked a bit more physical.

That’s a very strong endorsement for an undersized HS kid that only threw his FB in the 86-89 mph range. You can’t ask for a clearer statement than that as a GM or scouting director.

It reminds me of the story of how the Giants decided to offer Willy Mays a contract back in 1950. According to the highly-recommended bio by James Hirsch (that came out last year), 2 Giants scouts saw Mays play for the 1st time in a game in Birmingham (for the Black Barons) on June 17th (they were actually there to scout Alonzo Perry – Mays’s older teammate). They were both impressed and asked the owner of the Barons how much he wanted for Mays. The owner told them he’d take $15,000, but that Mays had to finish out the 1950 season for the Barons. The 2 scouts (Bill Harris and Eddie Mantague) called Jack Schwarz (the Giants’ Farm System Director) at his home in NY later that night. Harris talked to Schwarz first, and gave him an antiseptic standard scouting report about Mays’s ability to hit to all fields, good speed and very good arm. Schwarz thought to himself that it was a “routine description of a player who happens to strike a scout favorably.” Then Mantague got on the line and he was emotional and emphatic. He yelled at Schwarz, “You’ve got to get this boy! He’ll be in the big leagues in 2 years. Don’t ask any questions. Just go get him.” That convinced Schwarz.

The Barons were travelling to Tuscaloosa to play a game the following day. Montague was so worried about some other team signing Mays that he met the team bus when it arrived at the ballpark and immediately took Mays aside and offerred him a job playing for the Giants. For the record, Montague was too pessimistic in his statement to Schwarz. Mays made his debut in a NY Giants uniform on May 25th, 1951 – just a bit over 11 months after he predicted Mays would be in the major leagues within 2 years.

"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner

by Fla-Giant on Mar 12, 2011 12:54 PM PST up reply actions

1 more thing

Mapson didn’t “find” Brandon Belt. He’s a cross-checker now for the Giants, so he went to scout Belt after at least one other Giants’ area scout had filed a report on Belt. What Mapson did do was emphatically champion Belt as a top prospect for the 2009 draft when all the other Giant scouts, and all the other baseball scouts in the country for that matter, didn’t think Belt would amount to much in the pros. That made it a lot easier for John Barr, Sabes, and the Giants draft team to pull the trigger on Belt in round 5.

"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner

by Fla-Giant on Mar 12, 2011 1:00 PM PST up reply actions

OK, I lied

This is my final reply.

Even with that strong of an endorsement from Mapson, the Cubs didn’t draft Maddux until the 3rd pick of the 2nd round in 1984. They took a big, hulking college pitcher by the name of Drew Hall with their 1st round pick (#3 overall).
Drew Hall’s career stats

"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner

by Fla-Giant on Mar 12, 2011 1:09 PM PST up reply actions

That’s really cool. Also blows my mind on the change in perspective, the call him a hard thrower hitting 86-89 mph. I feel like now anything under 90s is considered really weak, right?
I also didn’t realize what Maddux’s size was, only 155 lbs at the time.

by Mrbasepaul on Mar 12, 2011 12:21 PM PST reply actions

H/T to double06 at LL who posted this fanshot as well, leading me to post it

Twitter Blog
My Son Drafted Your Son

by Gobroks on Mar 13, 2011 6:01 AM PST via mobile reply actions

Interesting, he had his control as a future 6 and the fastball as a future 8.

by BustaTheRippa on Mar 13, 2011 6:11 PM PDT reply actions

A subtle reminder that a player’s outcome is never inevitable. Mapson was basically right about Maddux, but it wasn’t predetermined that he would be. Maddux’ career could have taken a different turn in a dozen different ways.

MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!

by Roger on Mar 14, 2011 6:01 AM PDT up reply actions

Exactly

Even after he made it to the majors, the Cubs didn’t appear to realize what they had and let him get away to the Braves for a contract that they very easily could have matched or exceeded.

"There ain’t much to being a ballplayer, if you’re a ballplayer." - Honus Wagner

Proud Pop to Jake "The Jacksonville Rifle" Dunning - exclusively toeing the rubber since March 2010.

by Fla-Giant on Mar 14, 2011 1:17 PM PDT up reply actions

Are you sure they didn’t? He had just won the Cy Young, so I think they had at least some idea he was pretty good. Also, the way I remember it, the Braves offer was not the highest made to Maddux that off-season — I’m pretty sure the Yankees made a higher offer, which he declined.

"This is a street fight, and we win those." -- BRIAN SABEAN, 10/23/10

by Josh from Hollywood on Mar 14, 2011 1:28 PM PDT up reply actions

My understanding was that there was some kind of irreparable harm done to the relationship during one of the arbitration hearings and subsequent negotiations that caused Maddux to direct his representative not to even take an offer from the Cubs by the time he got to FA.

The big stress point I think must have been after his rookie year — at that point he’d been in the majors for nearly 200 innings and he’d been beat around pretty well. I remember hearing an interview with him in which he said he basically forgot he had a changeup. But pretty clearly in the winter of 1988 there were a lot of different ways his career could go, and I’d guess “all time great” would have ranked pretty low on the probable outcomes.

MY DAD WAS WRONG!
MY BOY NEEDS TO THROW HARDER!

by Roger on Mar 14, 2011 1:46 PM PDT up reply actions