Even in this most horrific of seasons, someone has to be the Most Valuable. Even bad baseball teams have a most valuable player.

The Seattle Mariners International Scouting Director, Bob Engle, has easily been the most valuable member of the organization over the last several years, and maybe every individual season since he joined the M’s at the start of the decade.

He’s scouted and successfully signed big leaguers such as Jose Lopez, Yuniesky Betancourt and Felix Hernandez, and was highly influential and resourceful in the M’s signing of Ichiro and Kenji Johjima.

Engle and his scouting staff, which he put together himself, are also responsible for the majority of the top prospects in the farm system, including Carlos Triunfel, Juan Ramirez, Michael Pineda, Mario Martinez, Jharmidy De Jesus, Efrain Nunez and Gabriel Noriega, despite the fact that the Mariners rank in the middle of the pack when it comes to spending money on international talent.

Blah, blah, blah, you’ve heard me say it so many times before. Engle is incredible.

The point is, when one attempts to choose which individual is the most valuable in the organization, Engle likely wins hands down, and probably every year. That isn’t a good thing. Good organizations have front office people, GMs, scouting directors, etc, that are extremely valuable to the daily operations, that they easily prove more valuable than anyone that is responsible only for amateur talent, such as Engle.

So for Engle to be that guy for Seattle is both a testament to his skills as well as a shot at the rest of the organization since 2003.

But instead of naming Bob Engle as the most valuable member of the Mariners organization every season, we’ll just name the award after him, like baseball did with the Edgar Martinez Award.

So, I’m taking nominations until the end of the season. Do some research, ask questions of the right people, including myself if you think I might know, but since the club’s GM can’t win it, who might truly be a worthy recipient?

It’s a tough year for it, but it’s been a tough year five seasons in a row.

Could it be a scout that is credited for signing a few of the better draft picks from last month’s draft? Maybe it’s a player, for any number of reasons such as performance or marketing. Perhaps it’s a coach on the staff or someone else in the front office such as Bob Fontaine.

Fontaine has done a very good job in the draft, considering the “win-now” parameters he’s worked under, and he’s also the Player Development Director and should be credited for overseeing the successes of the aggressive approach the club has had with its top prospects.

I’ve disagreed with most of them, at least to an extent, but none of them have bitten the team in the rear. Tuiasosopo is just fine, Chris Tillman, the one I had the biggest issue with, is showing no signs of his development being stalled due to his first six starts in High Desert last summer, and Greg Halman and Michael Saunders are holding their own and then some.

Anyways, dig deep, check out the M’s Media Guide to get a look at the scouts and front office members, and the minor league player pages in the guide will list the scout who signed each player.

Maybe you think their marketing team is their most valuable, since revenues drive their business which ultimately pays for the players on the field - for the 25-man roster and each of the nine affiliates.

Send your thoughts and nominations to engle@prospectinsider.com between now and the end of the year.

I’ll remind everyone about every four weeks. But this should create some good discussions on who has value to this organization and who doesn’t.

Oh, and I’m taking suggestions for this year’s PI Party, which will probably be sometime in August, though I’m open to September as well - mostly to avoid having the main topic as trade rumors - and I think I’m willing to extend the invites to any and all, rather than limiting the turnout. I was a little gunshy last year.

Where?
Mulleady’s is terrific, and their ownership is a friend of the site’s, and I’d love to bring them as much business as possible, but if doing it somewhere south of Seattle makes more sense, I’m all for that, too.

Exactly when?
Mid August would be my preference, but I’m open.

What would you like there to be at the party?
I have tickets to Tacoma and Everett to give away again, two pair for each this time if we do this in August, and I do have a pair of decent tickets to the Mariners-Rangers (Way to go, Hamilton!) in my hands already.

How should those be given out? Last year we did a little trivia game, and winners got tickets and some great photos donated to the cause by Paul Marsh. We’ll work on Paul again, too, those were super sweet shots, particularly of Felix.

Send in your suggestions