Scout survey shows the Cardinals are falling behind the rest of the league

The St. Louis Cardinals are well-documented to be investing more money into player development this year and a recent Baseball America article agrees a change must be made. The article details information obtained from an anonymous survey of scouts around Major League Baseball.

There has been a noted shift in the entire MLB scouting landscape as some teams have been trimming human staffers in exchange for advanced analytics and technology. Much of the data that scouts used to be relied upon for can now be found using these new techniques without having to send an actual person to watch a game, so there is growing fear around the entire scouting community.

The survey took the responses from 27 scouts from different levels or areas, though most of them were from the high school or college ranks. The questions in the "State of Scouting" survey surrounded topics like the current outlook on the scouting profession, scout-friendly organizations, and the team's ability to identify talent. The scouts were able to select multiple organizations per question.

Where did the Cardinals rank in key topics?

Until recently, the Cardinals were looked up to as an organization that constantly trotted out young talent and developed MLB-caliber talent from otherwise mediocre players. The team was able to produce, especially on the pitching side, players who were able to contribute to the big league club prior to needing big contracts which allowed the team to operate at a mid-level payroll. As the free agent landscape has continued to shift, the Cardinals are realizing the need to move along with this change and re-invest into minor league development.

The first concerning survey result came right from the start as the Cardinals received only one vote for most-scout-friendly organization. The Dodgers ranked at the top of the list while the Cardinals were only above the Cubs, Guardians, Mets, Orioles, and Red Sox. On the positive side of this vote, however, the team also only received one vote for the least-scout-friendly organization. The category-leading Guardians received 15 such votes.

Moving onto one of the bigger concerns for fans who still cannot get over poor trade decisions, the Cardinals only received three votes for "organizations best at identifying talent". The runaway winner in this topic was again the high-spending Dodgers but the rest of the list was interesting. 10 teams did not receive a single vote while six others tallied one or two. So while it is unfortunate to not see the Cardinals at the top, the three votes they did get actually ranks them in the top half of the league.

Some of the responders provided clarifying information regarding their answers. When discussing how scouts are treated or the future of scouting, one responder mentions how in-person scouting is important for all teams because organizations like Tampa Bay and the Dodgers are keeping bigger staffs. In regards to their ability to identify talent, there were some stipulations like the player has to do a lot of the work or moves like trades as opposed to the draft.

The entire Baseball America article is worth a read as there are many quotes from scouts discussing the challenges and future outlook of scouting. As long as the Cardinals invest their resources appropriately this offseason and beyond, the team should see an improvement in their player development.