A tip of the cap to Jonah Keri of Baseball Prospectus for an outstanding interview with the Padres' GM. Kevin Towers was remarkably candid; in Part One, the former scout admits that he's still learning.
I've definitely changed my philosophy on pitchers. When I was an amateur scout, it was all about the radar gun. Now, I see that the guys that have success, they're strike throwers--you can throw away the JUGS gun. In this job, you have to continually change. If you stay one way, you become a dinosaur--you'll die.
Part Two is just as interesting. Towers calls himself a "sludge merchant," and provides more insight into the ways the Padres, and other teams like the Jays, are adapting.
The game has changed a lot in the last five, 10 years. Ownership expects instant returns. GMs are having more say in what goes into the amateur draft. It used to be that you'd delegate, put the scouting department in charge. Nowadays you're seeing more GMs in the draft room than there were 10 years ago.
Fascinating stuff.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20031011113439999