MLB Draft 2012: Why Do We Love Tools so Much?

If I told you that the number of potential draft picks coming out of British Columbia was on the decline, you probably would not care very much.

However, Cam Tucker of the Vancouver Sun published a very interesting article about some of the reasons why Major League Baseball scouts are not nearly as excited about British Columbia as they have been in previous years.

This is why you should care about this article if you didn't before.

One of the main reasons he cites for players not being drafted out of British Columbia is because they do not have enough arm strength.

We all have heard stories about scouts falling in love with the radar gun. After all, it is easier to teach a pitcher to tone down his velocity and work on control rather than the other way around.

You can't teach someone to have a powerful arm.

That being said, it is also true that having a powerful arm doesn't necessarily lead to phenomenal success.

There have been plenty of flame-throwing young pitchers who haven't made it out of the minor leagues while Jamie Moyer has had a highly successful career without touching 90. You need to learn how to pitch rather than just throw the ball hard at the plate. Eventually, you will find hitters who are able to keep up with it.

If I was a scout, I would be predisposed to fall into this trap. I like players who have all the tools and all the potential in the world. I like to think that everyone will live up to their potential. However, that is definitely not the case in Major League Baseball.

 A tiny percentage of draft-eligible players make it to the minor leagues, and an even smaller percentage of them make it to the major leagues. Many phenomenal talents burn out at one level or another. There is more to finding future major-leaguers than just looking at tools.

Obviously, MLB scouts are professionals. They know what they're doing, and they evaluate talent as best they can.

However, reading this article about British Columbia really made me think about how unfortunate it is that some potentially great players might be passed over simply because they do not necessarily light up the radar gun or hit the ball a mile.

I understand why this is the case, and I understand that there needs to be someone to evaluate these players, but there is a lot more to a baseball player then his physical talents.

Even though I know that makeup is taken into consideration, perhaps it should be taken into account more. If a player does not have the right mindset to begin with, it would be very hard for him to make it to the Major Leagues.

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