Scouts Life (IV): Juan Andres Mosquera
Scouts Life (IV): Juan Andres Mosquera
At age 36, Mosquera keeps progressing inside the A's organization.
Previously in Scouts Life:
Juan Andres Mosquera was born in Panama and started playing baseball at 4 in Colon, his native province. His gifts as a baseball player were advanced and over time he developed them to the point of being a member of his country's national teams for children and youth.
At that time, between 2002 and 2007, scouting was far from his main aspirations. Mosquera played second base, third base, and shortstop for Panama Metro, a team from the capital city. He longed to make it to the major leagues. He was a typical fast first baseman who put the ball in play.
In 2006 he began his professional career with the St. Louis Cardinals, but an ankle injury robbed him of his most prized tool: speed. Mosquera continued at the Rookie level and then in the United States until 2009 when he was released by the Cardinals.
“I just couldn't get past the Rookie level,” Mosquera tells me, recalling that time with nostalgia.
After that disappointment of failure as a baseball player, he leveraged the relationships he had forged during his early years to land a scouting position within the Cardinals.
“I'm very grateful because I met good people,” he says.
In the present, and like many other scouts, Mosquera lives within this world trying to assess a future that is all too uncertain. His current position with the Oakland Athletics is that of Scouting Supervisor in Latin America and we have coincided in several showcases of Cuban baseball players such as that of Luis Manuel Leon in Delray Beach, Florida, or that of Yariel Rodriguez in the Quisqueya Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Although he sometimes hides behind an iPad where he writes his reports, Mosquera preserves his athletic figure. Among the scouts with whom I share and converse, I have always been impressed by his confidence in what he does. Perhaps he inherited that from his days as a runner or ambidextrous hitter. Now he has carried it into his scouting life and has been rewarded.
Thanks to his reports, several players have been signed and have contributed to the major league scene. He continues to set his sights on goals for the future and is not satisfied with anything but continuing to grow. He was one of the first names I thought of for this series because of his integrity and wisdom within the game.
From the Panama region and within the Moneyball organization, Mosquera tirelessly scouts talent, sharing the synchronicity of the human side and the analytical side.
I want to start your interview with a concern of several readers, what should a person do to become a scout?
From my experience, I can tell you that the first thing is to understand the game, how the game goes, and evaluate different tools and aspects. That is the most basic thing that a person who wants to become a professional scout should have, especially in the international area, where the work is focused more on very young players. If at 18 years old it is a problem, imagine now at 13-14 years old when we are starting to evaluate the players. It doesn't matter if you were a professional player, it has more to do with knowledge and the desire to reach the path or profession you want to work in.
**If you want your question to be asked to a professional scout, email us at francysromero10@yahoo.com **
Why did you decide to enter the world of talent evaluation?
In my case, truth be told, I was playing professionally. I was playing with the St. Louis Cardinals in the Minor League at the Rookie level, but in that year 2009, I was released. I remember that I was finishing playing in the Semi-Professional or Amateur League that we have in Panama. In truth, I entered because of the love that one has for the game. That was possible because there was an open position and people who gave me the opportunity and believed that I could have a certain talent for the evaluation and recruitment of professional players. It's worth noting that there are many opinions on how to scout because it depends on how much skill you have and how convincing that knowledge is to an Assistant or Front Office Manager.
You currently work for the Oakland Athletics. Tell me about your role there over the years.
I started in Panama through a person I had met in my time with St. Louis who was looking for someone to work for Oakland. At the end of the day, I was fortunate enough at that time and I will always be grateful to that person. I started from the ground up as an area scout, and then opportunities came to me from other organizations to continue to grow. The team at that time told me how important I was for the organization and they did not want me to leave. Then other countries were added to my list of assignments such as Nicaragua, Aruba, Curacao, and the Caribbean Islands. Then I needed the support of a scout in the area of Venezuela and they allowed me to be part of that project we had there, which was none other than to increase the presence.
Years later the position of Latin America Scouting Supervisor opened up and I continue in the same position today. I always travel to the Dominican Republic, we have the Academy there and it is the place we never stop going. When the Supervisor opportunity opened up to me, the organization considered me as its first choice and here we are today, focusing first and foremost on having a good working group and structure, as well as a solid base to be able to add talent to the organization. My functions go beyond evaluating but also being in charge of the visa processes that have to be done to the players to move them to another country and, already in the Dominican Republic, working hand in hand with the main office and seeing how the player is going to move. Sometimes I am asked for support in the area of development, physical tests, drug tests, transportation, and logistics.
This work of yours is sometimes very little valued, a lot of travel, and far from the family, does a scout have the recognition they deserve, both within an organization and outside of it?
This is an admirable job. A lot of time away from the family, different hotels, different climates. I, for example, had allergic problems that had not developed, and after being in scouting they appeared. I think in the right place you are always going to be valued depending on the opportunities you can have and the budgets of the organizations. I know teams that value a lot but it also has to do with the income they have.
Many people want to know about a firm's process. In your view, why are processes more thorough now than they were 5 years ago?