If I were the owner... I would make sure that the scouting department had the best scouts in the country period. I would pay them ridiculous money to attract the best and retain the best. If Team X has the biggest scouting budget in baseball. I would double that figure and still not make a dent in payroll because of player salaries. I would use metrics to determine success rate. If teams started to spend more on scouting in response... I'd continue to spend more. 17 scouts averaging (what) $30,000 a year. You could increase the crap out of this and it won't cost you a MLB bullpen arm. $30,000 in average salary and they are finding the players who are paid multi millions. Scouting would certainly become a top priority for me as owner.