To AA, Paul Beeston, and especially the guy who drafted me, Kevin Fox, thanks for believing in a 21 year old D2 baseball player. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to prove that I could not only reach the big leagues but become an everyday center fielder.
Feel like this is worth highlighting, as it has come up. I'm generally fine with ascribing the draft record to the GM because, while they don't make most of the picks, you can still argue that they played a large role in assembling the scouting department, setting direction and priorities, etc. But it's worth noting that the guy that Pillar states drafted him was our area scout, someone four levels removed from the GM (GM --> scouting director --> national crosschecker(s) --> regional crosscheckers --> area scout). Because when you're that deep in the draft, especially with DII/JuCo talents, you're dealing with players that no team has the resources to send a whole bunch of dudes out to watch...unless Pillar happened to play against a team with someone we were following at the right time, there's a good chance that Fox was the only member of the organization to ever watch him play before he was drafted.
I've heard a number of other players, particularly later picks, mention "their scout" in interviews (and they all pretty well seem to remember the name of the scout responsible), because the difference between drafted in the 32nd round and having a professional baseball career or going undrafted and ending up with an office job may ultimately come down to one guy who happens to see you and thinks you're worth a flier.
...which means that it has to sting to have been the Mets' So Cal area scout circa 2011. Because in the 32nd round, he spoke up and put forward a senior on the Cal State U - Dominguez Hills Toros. A guy by the name of Carlos Leyva, who was released after one season in professional baseball. Leyva's teammate was selected seven picks later, and Pillar's seven years deep in his major league career.
