The art of recruiting and the phenomenal pitcher Jacob deGrom go hand in hand. I explain to you.
Baseball managers rely a lot on their recruiters to sniff out the players who will represent the future of their franchise.
At the time, the former Director of Recruitment and Personnel for Expos players, Mel Didier, was holding a meeting at Jarry Park to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Expos. Didier called on the coaches to analyze the quality of the players as well as that of his assistants, of whom I was a member, and those responsible for certain recruiting sectors.
In Mel’s work plan, an equation dominated. That of analyzing in all its facets the performance of recruiters. The work of the scout must be analyzed each year according to the selections of the previous three years.
The best example of the need for these meetings is that of September 1975. Expos president John McHale arrived at the meeting without warning. He wanted clarification on Expos picks in previous draft. He began the discussion by congratulating the staff on the 1972 picks, the best vintage in Expos history, which included Ellis Valentine in the second round, and Gary Carter in the next round.
Bob Zuk’s analysis
Expos recruiter in California, Bob Zuk, had done an exceptional job. He stressed that both players were injured at the time of the draft. He said before the selection that both players could become stars in major league baseball and that he was putting his career on the line with the Expos. I still remember the phone conversation between him and Mel Didier before the June auction. I heard Didier’s voice echo, with his Louisiana accent, who said quite simply firmly: “Bob, don’t be worried if your choices don’t turn out to be right, you won’t have to put your career on the line. in peril with the Expos … you will simply be fired ”. I observed Mel for a long time after this conversation, asking him if he had crossed the line. Looking me straight in the eye, he explained his point of view to me. It’s not complicated, he told me, if Bob Zuk was wrong, the three of us were to be fired!
The Warthen case
The meeting continued and everyone seemed happy, until Mr. McHale had other matters to clarify. The Expos president never raised his voice, but his questions put some people in an awkward position.
From the height of his 6’4 ”, standing in the room, he wanted to obtain a very clear explanation of the reasons which had prompted recruiters, in 1970, to highly recommend left-handed pitcher Dan Warthen, while George Brett and Mike Schmidt were available. All baseball fans remember the glorious journeys of these two players who found their niche in the Hall of Fame.
His words became even more bitter when he mentioned that recruitment specialists had turned a blind eye to promising young people a few years earlier. They were Jim Rice and Fred Lynn, who enjoyed moments of glory with the Boston Red Sox, and Eddie Murray, who would go on to become one of major league baseball’s most formidable hitters. Incidentally, these three players were also immortalized at Cooperstown. These five players would have marked the history of the Expos. By the way, are you surprised to read that after the meeting some scouts were released from their posts?
Rookie of the year
After explaining to you the importance of recruiting, I’m sure several other scouts have been fired following the meteoric development and performance of right-handed pitcher Jacob deGrom, a 9th round pick for the New York Mets. In the Mets, one recruiter read the athlete fairly, who was converted from relief pitcher to starter while apprenticing in the organization’s development network.
In 2014, deGrom was named National League Rookie of the Year. That year, in a game against the Houston Astros, he tied a record by striking out the first eight batters he faced. He finished the season with a 9-6 record and 144 strikeouts on three strikes. The following year, at the all-star game in Cincinnati, he achieved a feat by striking out three batters on three strikes in just 10 shots.
Trophée Cy Young
The Cy Young is awarded to the top pitcher in both leagues. Among the criteria to determine the recipient, there is the number of victories. Jacob deGrom has changed the criteria forever. He won two Cy Young trophies: in 2018, with 10 wins and an earned-run average of 1.70; and in 2019, with 11 wins and an earned-run average of 2.43. The best earned run average of 0.96 in 1914 belongs to Dutch Leonard. In the past decade, no pitcher has been able to lower the 1.12 mark in 1967 of St. Louis Card pitcher Bob Gibson. After his last start against the Padres last Saturday, the Mets ace pitcher’s earned-run average dropped to 0.62.
Jacob deGrom has a chance of being elected to the Hall of Fame with the fewest wins by a starting pitcher.
Is he the best pitcher in baseball history? I tend to believe he will be.
