As I near retirement I am attempting to make a smooth transition into baseball - either in management or scouting of some sort. The SMWW course on "Baseball GM and Scouting" was my first step toward converting stumbling blocks into stepping stones as I make a career transition.
SMWW Baseball Education Program
SMWW Baseball Scouts have been trained and mentored by some of the best in the industry. SMWW Baseball Scouts have completed a rigorous eight week training program and instructed by Dan Evans, Ari Kaplan and Larry D'Amato. SMWW Baseball Scouts are listed here with scouting report samples. Please contact them and arrange a complimentary scouting report for your program, be it at the high school, university, or professional level.
SMWW Baseball Scouting Mentors:
Dan Evans, former GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has been in professional baseball for over three decades, and has had decision-making roles with five MLB franchises throughout his career. Including the White Sox (1981-2000), Chicago Cubs (2000-2001), Dodgers (2001-2004), Seattle Mariners (2004-2007), and the Toronto Blue Jays (2013-present). Evans’ experience is wide ranging, as he is the only former General Manager of a MLB club who also led a baseball agency.
Evans has been a broadcast analyst for MLB games, is the author of “108 Stitches,” a column for Baseball Prospectus, and is a member of the Baseball Prospectus Advisory Board.
Ari Kaplan is President of Scoutables with Fred Claire, the former World Champion Dodger GM. Scoutables has provided advance scouting and analytics to broadcast and online media and over half of all MLB organizations. In 2010, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts brought in Kaplan to create and lead the organization's analytics department. Kaplan's work included roster strategy, forecasting, advance scouting, player/coach game preparation, Minor League player development, draft analysis, international, arbitration, financial, budgeting, marketing, and community outreach. During his tenure Kaplan led the in-house analytical and technical transformation. Taking this course will be similar to sitting in his office for one hour every week. A opportunity of a lifetime for baseball sabermetricians.
Ari is one of the few long-term baseball leaders with a proven track record at Fortune 500 companies, as well as successfully running several high-profile organizations as CEO or President. On the media front, Ari co-authored five best-selling books on analytics, databases, and baseball. Ari’s work has been profiled on CNN, Chris Matthews, and the Today Show and one of his high-profile analytics projects was turned into a documentary on the History Channel.
Larry D’Amato has been scouting baseball for over 40 years. He started in 1970 as an area scout and held scouting positions as an Area Scout, Scouting Supervisor, National Cross Checker, Pro Scout, and Major League Scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Major League Scouting Bureau, Texas Rangers and most recently the Houston Astros. The players he personally discovered and signed include Rod Scurry, Fred Breining, Jeff Lahti, Terry Lee, Jim Neidlinger, Steve Cooke. Larry has covered high schools, junior colleges, four year colleges, and the Pacific Coast League, Northwest League, Pioneer League. He has set up and run Free-Agent Tryout Camps all over the USA. He has covered both Arizona and Florida Major League Spring Training, in addition to the National League West, American League West, National League Central, American League East, International League and various Mexican Leagues. Larry is a three time winner of the Topps Scouting Award and he has 4 World Series Rings.
SMWW Baseball Scouts have successfully completed 8 weeks of training including:
- Sabermetrics
- Collegiate Baseball Scouting
- MLB Baseball Scouting
- Methods of ranking high-school and college baseball prospects
- The making of a baseball scouting report
- The language and history of baseball scouting
- Concise evaluation techniques and terminology
- New age scouting vs. Traditional methods
Click here to search for a SMWW Baseball Scout by Area.
SMWW Scouts will do a complimentary scouting report to your specifications to prove they are an expert.
SMWW Scouts will be an exceptional resource to save you time and money in your program!