Josh Boyd on Judging a Player’s Makeup, Evaluating the Person and the Player, and Building a Team with Character

The Highest Level Podcast with Evan Burk

Josh Boyd is the Assistant General Manager of the Texas Rangers, where he oversees all functions of pro player evaluation and the R & D department. Boyd has been with the Rangers since 2008 serving in roles within Player Personnel and Pro Scouting, and spent 4 seasons as an area scout with the San Diego Padres.

Photo: John Gilchrist (Rotary Club of Park Cities)

In this conversation, Evan Burk speaks with Josh about how he went from a baseball writer to Major League Scout, the skill set makes a good evaluator, and looking at how players deal with success and failure to help judge the character make up of players.

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Topics Discussed:

• Transition from baseball writer to MLB scout

• Learning as a San Diego Padres scout

• How his thinking changed in understanding of what made players successful

• What makes a successful scout in major league baseball

• How the Organization’s goals and vision feed into the Player Evaluation approach

• Judging whether players have the drive to be great vs. just liking being a ball player

• How a player’s fit within a system factors into team building in baseball

• What are you looking for beyond the game when evaluating players?

• Learning about players with how they handle setbacks, and success

• When to make exceptions and understanding acquisition cost

• What separated the Rangers’ World Series teams from 2010 and 2011

• Where Josh get’s inspiration outside of baseball?