Tim Wilken

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060127&content_id=1301883&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc


1/27/2006
Cubs scout leader has eye for talent
All 11 of Wilken's first-round picks have made it to Majors
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- Of the Chicago Cubs' last 12 No. 1 draft picks, Brooks Kieschnick, Kerry Wood, Jon Garland, Corey Patterson and Mark Prior have made it to the Major Leagues. Tim Wilken's 11 first-round picks with the Toronto Blue Jays all have reached the big leagues.

Wilken is the new director of amateur and professional scouting for the Cubs. He most recently served as the special assistant to the general manager in Tampa Bay, where he also assisted in overseeing the scouting department. Wilken joined the Devil Rays in 2003. Prior to that, he had spent his entire career in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, serving as an area scout, Minor League coach and manager, national crosschecker, U.S. scouting director and vice president of baseball operations.

During his 11 years after being promoted to national crosschecker of the Blue Jays, Toronto's draft was ranked in the top five each year and produced four Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners and two Cy Young Award winners. In 2005, 16 players who started in the Blue Jays organization were on the All-Star ballot and six were selected as All-Stars.

The Cubs plan to take advantage of Wilken's extensive background and have him involved in all forms of pro reporting. For example, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry will call upon Wilken to help assemble the 40-man roster, assess talent being considered in trades, and scout prospective players.

"It's just kind of a hodgepodge thing that I did in Toronto and Tampa where I delved into a few different things," Wilken said, trying to describe his role. "It's more to give Jim an idea of what's going on on the streets scouting-wise on both sides of the ledger."

Scouts are the silent partners who don't get much credit for the long hours, extensive days on the road, and zillions of reports that need to be filed.

"The area [scouts] have quite the grind," Wilken said of the scouts who scour the country for amateur talent. "They see anywhere from 400 to 600 games a year. They don't see all of a game, but they may see three or four in a day or more if there's a tournament. It gets kind of lost in the shuffle. I think [scouting] is done more for the genuine love of being in baseball."

Anyone can see a player hit line drives or throw fastballs. What's tough for scouts is to be able to get a read on the intangibles. What's the player's personality like? Is he a gamer? Is he a troublemaker? How committed is he to the game or is he just thinking about the potential dollars?

"That's where the area guys are so important," Wilken said. "They try to keep as much contact as they can with those kids. It is huge. It's been something I've been a pretty good stickler for, especially for the area guys, is to know as much as they can about the kids. Naturally, you can't always be right and you can be fooled. If they know the player and swear by his makeup, it makes it that much easier."

When draft day approaches in June, most scouting directors say they want to take the best player available. Wilken has a concept he's followed that has been successful.

"There are some situations that dictate [you take the best player] but you can't always do that," he said. "There might be a player who you say is the best player, but the guy's signability might have something to do with that. To say you're taking the best player is good in thought."

Wilken likes to target middle infielders because they're generally the best athletes available. Of course, that's only if it makes sense.

"Going back to the 'best player' theory, I think you apply that in the early rounds, and as the draft drops off in ability and everything being somewhat equal, you start concentrating on your weaknesses," he said. "If available, then naturally [look for] pitching -- especially left-handed pitching -- and shortstops and second basemen. [Middle infielders] generally have the ability to play somewhere else."

Wilken will meet with all of the Cubs scouts in Florida and then they'll scatter as spring baseball begins. When interviewed in mid January, he had already attended a showcase in Ft. Myers, Fla., which 200 kids attended. Wilken also wants to get a feel for what the Cubs already have in their Minor League system, and will work closely with player development director Oneri Fleita.

"I know we're going to have to get better in the middle part of the diamond," Wilken said. "With that in mind and if we get the pitching that we think we have and can add to that, it'll make this organization a lot stronger and give Jim and the Cubs a lot more resources if there are deals that have to be made."

One other area that Wilken wants to explore is the possibility of adding more international talent. The World Baseball Classic in March will be a good showcase. Wilken will have scouts at those games to try and gauge the quality of players.

Scouts learn how to deal with being on the road constantly. Wilken says he's finally found a good suitcase. He used to buy Samsonite, but that would barely last two years. Now, he's moved up to a Tumi bag with a lifetime guarantee that's lasted five years.

"Now learning how to pack is the other accomplishment," Wilken said.

After nearly 30 years on the road, he'll get that right some day.



How have you done Tim? Where are those middle infielders? Hell, where are the international players? Fukudome? Three years is enough time for me to start asking what the fuck are you doing. Josh Vitters? Read the scouting report yourself: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2007/index.jsp?mc=vitters. Slow, below average fielder. And he is now injured. 2008 pick? Andrew Cashner. A closer with walk concerns. I want to see some stronger positional guys than the slap hitters (Fuld, Blanco, Theriot, Fontenot) and the DHs (Hoffpauir and Fox). Fix it. Fire this guy first.

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Wilkins has been a bust so far without a doubt, but I wouldn't can him just yet.

WOW! I'm glad I read that. While I agree with some of what he says, Wilken's theory on drafting middle infielders fascinates me. Actually it explains a LOT. Do you have any more from this guy?

Sounds similar to Kenny's theory of "Well, he played football AND baseball, that means he's an awesome athlete. Lets draft him based on multi-sport athleticism instead of baseball skills".

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How about firing the TV announcers for old time's sake?

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There goes one over the fence..Tru Link Fence..Beauty, Privacy Security....Call Tru Link.
Murph's Union 76 Truck Stop....A great Thanksgiving Tradition!!!!

WOO LIFE!!!!

Here is a recent 2009 amateur interview with Darrell Horwitz:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/196080-cubs-scouting-director-tim-wilken-opens-up-about-the-organization

DH: In a Baseball Prospectus article that appeared in a Paul Sullivan column a while back, it said that the Cub farm system didn’t fare too well in their evaluation, and their quote was, “This is a weak system in which finding any future Cub stars requires a bit of dreaming.” Also, when it came to trying to trade for CC Sabathia and for Jake Peavy, it was said by scouts of other teams that the Cubs didn’t have the players in their minor league system to pull off those deals. What’s your take on those statements?

TW: I’m a prideful person and I could say let them come and see the whole system. A lot of their evaluations are what they see statistically. Some things we can improve upon here. We can get a higher ceiling type of player. I think our depth is as good as anyone at this point. I can’t answer for Baseball Prospectus or some unidentified scout that thinks he knows our system totally. A lot of our depth and talent is at the ‘A’ level. I understand it’s not punch you in the face talent, but I think there’s a fair amount of major leaguers that once they mature, they’re going to say they had some pretty good players. I say let’s check this thing out three years from now.


So he is essentially saying the guys that were drafted in '07 and '08 wont be major league ready until 2012? Whether he likes it or not, that perception does hold true as you see the players that are being brought up in September.

Bob, I agree about the athlete part. From reading Moneyball (which I dont subscribe to 100%) you can see how these scouts work. They look at the physical attributes and evaluate based on it. Not all the time, but often the baseball attributes seem to take second bill. I also dont believe signing 16-18 year old kids is always the right way to go, as we see now with Josh Vitters.

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I meant that more in jest. The avalanche of people looking for Lou to be fired for not having passion and Hendry to be fired for signing free agents to big contracts needs some push back, or at least needs to be re-directed towards the right people.

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The Cubs and White Sox just pissing away number one draft choices is atrocious.
What really pisses one off is when you see who the local morons selected and then see who was taken after them.

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There goes one over the fence..Tru Link Fence..Beauty, Privacy Security....Call Tru Link.
Murph's Union 76 Truck Stop....A great Thanksgiving Tradition!!!!

WOO LIFE!!!!

The problem isn't big contracts,it's LONG contracts. The Soriano 14 year deal was insane!!!!!

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

The GM has final say on ALL baseball moves. If the farm system sucks ( which it does) Jim Hendry is to blame.

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Thanks for posting that one too, Puckhead. I thought Horwitz asked some really good questions, Wilkens had to backtrack the entire time. Also funny that you quoted the same answer that stood out to me, that was the best one. Almost every quote is awesome:

TW: "We were looking specifically adding depth to the everyday players because up until the last few years, it’s kind of been a void for 15 years".

TW: "Later, getting to rounds five and beyond, you’re looking for players with average or slightly less than average type tools."

Good luck with that Tim. BTW, the amateur draft is 50 rounds, 1521 players were drafted this year. Meaning over 6000 players have been drafted since he took over in 2006...he gives up looking for talent/tools after the 5th round? Plus there are international signings, but thats just piling on.)

Here the best:
TW: "I’m a prideful person and I could say let them come and see the whole system. A lot of their evaluations are what they see statistically". (Major bullshit...wait for it...)

TW: "I think our depth is as good as anyone at this point. I can’t answer for Baseball Prospectus or some unidentified scout that thinks he knows our system totally." (Wait for it...)

TW: "A lot of our depth and talent is at the ‘A’ level. I understand it’s not punch you in the face talent. I say let’s check this thing out three years from now."

So basically..he's looking for players with less than average tools and acts smug regarding Prospectus / scouts. He says come look at the whole system, says our depth is as good as anyone at this point, but A lot of our depth and talent is at the ‘A’ level and then bashes those guys...and says lets check this out in 3 years...awesome.

Plus how much depth can you have on your A team? (Well, we don't have catching in AA or AAA, but we're stacked at C at A? Is that what he means?) So the guy has been the Cubs' Scouting Director since JANUARY 2006 and as you said, the next generation of Cubs will be ready in 2012 according to him..? ...and he says their depth is as good as anyone and then says its all is at the A level...?

I assume Tim wants to keep his job so of course he has to bullshit, but come on, do a better job of it...and don't act smug like no one knows what they are talking about, because then you'll attract attention and lose your job, which you should. Just my 2 cents.

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Tim Wilken

Doesn't every major league team think they have talent at the 'A' level? I would hope that these guys are seen to have talent, you just drafted them. Talk to me when they are in AA or AAA.

I have been hearing this for years from the Cubs. Unfortunately this "talent" seems to hit the skids before they hit AA or AAA....or in the few cases the major leagues (Patterson, Pie).

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Wasn't Gordon Beckham a number one draft choice?

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JohnKirk wrote: I dont get it...