A few questions with Mr. Joe Jordan, Scouting Director of The Baltimore Orioles

Mr. Jordan joined the Baltimore Orioles in November 2004, and his 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 drafts have changed the complexion of the organization.

Baseball America recently ranked the Orioles Minor League system 9th overall.

Mr. Jordan was kind enough to answer a few questions from Baltimore Sports and Life.

BSL – “After the 2008 Draft, you spoke with Orioles Hangout Managing Editor Tony Pente, and stated that Orioles President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail had not influenced you in any way about who the first round selection should be.

That for good or bad, the decision was yours to make.

Clearly, that is a sign of MacPhail having confidence in the organization he has in place, and allowing people to do their part -without overreaching.

Do you incorporate a similar philosophy within the Scouting Department?

Meaning while the success and failures of the draft will ultimately fall on your shoulders… are you comfortable with relying on the individualrecommendations of the Area Scouts, the East & West Coast Supervisors,the National Cross checker…. Or do you seek broad consensus across the board?”

Joe Jordan – “I have total confidence in the opinions of my staff. The draft decisions are based on many opinions from all my staff and we obviously do not all agree on most players. After evaluating the players and holding predraft meetings it’s my responsiblility to make a call.”

BSL – “The Orioles are not the little sisters of the poor in-terms of overall resources, but clearly lack the overall finances of divisional opponents New York and Boston.

Does this impact whom you target as an organization?

Specifically, does this organization need to target players that might have less overall ceiling, but are more likely to reach the majors and perform…. Vs guys with extreme tools that have a higher-degree of hit-or-miss ability?”

Joe Jordan – “We take the best player in each round. I would never sacrifice what we do based on the ‘resources of another organization.”

BSL – “Prior to the 2008 Draft, Greg Pappas, Creator of www.mlb-draft.com provided some interesting research on Top 10 draft-picks during the 10 year draft-period of 1993 through 2003.

While subjective, he determined that of those picks:
A) High School Hitters > 72% good picks
B) College Hitters > 57% good picks
C) High School Pitchers > 31% good picks
D) College Pitchers > 28% good picks

Would anecdotal evidence like that influence your selection?”

Joe Jordan – “Obviously the best predictor of the future is the past. That said, there is no exact science to this. We do the work and if we like a player we take them. There is always more inventory with pitchers – we may slant toward an offensive player early in the draft unless we feel strongly in regards to a pitcher who is available (Matusz).”

BSL – “Ozzie Newsome, General Manager and Executive VP of the Baltimore Ravens has longed talked about his draft philosophy being to select the highest rated talent on their board, over need.

Obviously, that is in a sport where draft-picks can make a much immediate return vs Baseball.

If you had two talents ranked nearly equal on your board, does organizational need ever factor into the equation?”

Joe Jordan – “If we had them evaluated equally then yes it may influence what we do. The same could be said with Coll/HS players – if we believe they will ultimately be the same guy, I’ll take the 21 yr old.”

BSL – “Continuing with the previous football themed question, the NFL has the combine which allows all the teams to gather and have exact measurable and comps.

Major League Baseball has the MLB Scouting Bureau- how do you use the information compiled by this entity?”

Joe Jordan – ” The Bureau provides a very useful service in regards to identifying prospects, gathering medical and psychological information and video.

We use their service and it is helpful, but ultimately I will work off the opinion of my staff when we decide who we like in the draft.”