Jacob Viets

It was a dream of mine to work with an MLB team, but the hyper-competitive nature of the industry made it feel hopeless after seemingly every application fell on deaf ears. After years of applying and countless interviews and assessments, I received an offer to work as a scouting analyst for a team. All my work and effort I put into TJStats was finally rewarded — I landed my dream job. As ecstatic as I was to receive the offer, my excitement quelled once I heard the compensation. I was aware that the salaries of MLB front office staff were considered low relative to other professionals with similar credentials, but I wanted to keep an open mind. Not only would I have to take a pay cut and pivot away from becoming a licensed professional engineer, I was required to leave the public baseball scene. In other words, TJStsts would cease operations. I wish I could say the decision was difficult. I ultimately declined the offer. Although it was a dream of mine to work in baseball, a team’s choice to treat front office personnel as an expense rather than an investment is the reason why I remain in the public space. I stand by my decision and continue to carve out my own journey with TJStats. This isn’t to say that you should never entertain a job with a professional sports team. Your path will be different from mine. No matter what, you should always make an informed decision about your future. Your talents and skills are valuable and you should be compensated accordingly.