SCOUTING BUREAU DIRECTOR MARCOS LEAVING POST

By Clint Longenecker
on October 16, 2014

Frank Marcos, the senior director of the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, is leaving the organization to pursue other interests. Marcos began at the Bureau 26 years ago and was appointed director in 1998, gaining the title of senior director in 2008.

While Marcos’ name might not be well known to followers of the draft, his impact on the draft through his role with the bureau has been significant. The Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau (MLBSB) is a centralized scouting organization that has functioned under the Baseball Office of the Commissioner since 1985 after being founded as an independent organization supported by the major league clubs in 1974.

The Bureau employs more than 30 full-time scouts and many part-timers throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to provide reports and information on amateur prospects for the draft to all 30 clubs. It also provides a deep video library of prospects, as well as reports on professional players and international prospects. The bureau has bolstered its presence internationally in recent years with the increased standardization of events in the international market.

Marcos played a key role in introducing the Breakthrough Series, a collaborative effort between USA Baseball, the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academies and the MLB Scouting Bureau designed to showcase players who may not have received the exposure their ability warrants. The event began in 2008 and moved to an expanded format in 2014, which more than doubled the number of players gaining exposure by moving to a region-based format.

Marcos also played a role in helping expand the Urban Youth Academies, which now has locations in Compton, Calif., Philadelphia, Houston, Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Puerto Rico.

The bureau also runs what is formally known as the Scout Development Program, which is also informally known as Scout School, a 12-day course held in Phoenix designed to give participants a foundational knowledge of scouting. More than 1,200 people have participated in Scout School, which had its 30th class this fall. The Bureau also offers a Latin American Scout Development Program.

Former Baseball America staffers Josh Boyd and Alan Matthews, who work for the Rangers and Rockies respectively, wrote about their experiences going through Scout School, as did Grantland’s Ben Lindbergh last fall.

MLBSB also runs tryout camps across the country.

Marcos, who began his career in baseball as an administrative assistant with the Dodgers shortly after graduating from Cal Poly Pomona in 1984, was promoted to the Angels assistant farm director in less than a full year, a position he held for nearly four years prior to coming to the Bureau.