Marlins’ Orrin Freeman Wins West Coast Scout of the Year

The Marlins have long relied on their scouting ability to have a competitive chance because of their normally marginal payroll. This year at the 31^st Scout of the Year banquet, the Marlins Orrin Freeman won the award for west coast Scout of the Year.

Freeman has been involved in scouting since the 1982 season ended, when he moved from coaching to scouting. He was with the Marlins in 1992 and became the Marlins’ assistant scouting director in 1993. By 1996, he was promoted to scouting director and became a special assistant to the GM in 2001.

The Marlins front office has been very stable over the years, with many members holding titles for years at a time. Because of the unique nature of the Marlins spending habits over the years, scouting is much more important for the club than it is for a team like the Dodgers, Yankees, or Phillies.

Freeman picked both Mark Kotsay and Josh Beckett in his time as a Marlins scout. Beckett was an integral part of the 2003 Florida Marlins World Series over the New York Yankees. He went 9-8 with a 3.04 ERA that season and won the World Series MVP. Beckett had a 1.10 ERA in 16.1 innings along with a WHIP of .796.

Freeman is now the Senior Advisor of Player Personnel. The Marlins have given up a lot of homegrown talent this off-season. While the team is making a push to make the playoffs in 2015, they need to continue to scout with the same success they have in years past. Otherwise, they will quickly turn into a team that needs to buy free agents to field a team. As long as Freeman is with the squad, there is little chance of that happening.