Scouts also use the Olympics to update reports on many of the prized prospects playing for the U.S., in case their names come up in trade talks. But just whom they're looking at and why is a closely guarded secret.
"I don't comment on any particular players," Stockstill said. "Some clubs will have no players, some will have eight or 10. And some will be available and some won't be available."
Among the teams scouts are panning is the Netherlands, while one they're watching closely is Japan, an all-star team of the 24 best players from the Japanese Central and Pacific leagues.
"If you went to Japan, it might take you a month to see all those guys," Blakeley said. "[But] we're not skipping anybody. You just never know. Sometimes guys at a young age throw 85, 86 [mph]. And three or four years later you see them again and they're throwing in the lows 90s."
But if the Olympics have become a necessary stop on every scout's itinerary, it's not the only one. Or even the most important one.
"Bottom line, you have to be really good in the Dominican and Venezuela," said Colorado's Rolando Fernandez. "But it's also always good to have other resources to cover other ground. Because you can always find good players.
"And that's what our job is: to find good players. It doesn't matter where they are."
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kevin.baxter@latimes.com
