Cards' Scruggs eyes 'a shifting of culture'

The Cardinals made an equal parts under-the-radar and splash signing in April, welcoming former player Xavier Scruggs back into the organization as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consultant on the baseball operations side. The position is one of few in both Major League Baseball and North American professional sports in total.

Scruggs, who’s also taken on a post-playing career in media, spoke with MLB.com recently about his new position with the Cards, what he hopes to accomplish and the work he’s done so far. This discussion has been edited for brevity and clarity.

MLB.com: What’s the background of your new role?

Scruggs: It’s a role that I'm very excited about, just from a player's perspective to be able to offer something like this, something that I didn't necessarily have, and still most organizations don't have: a resource I'll be able to be for the players, coaches and staff to be educated on a lot of different things going on in our world right now. That's what it all stems from. I'm all about everything off the field, everything outside of being an athlete -- that whole perspective is a huge part of who we are on the field as well. These players don't have to be advocates for any specific subject, but if they're able to figure out who they are a little bit more off the field, be able to understand how they have an impact and influence as an athlete and what's going on today, and also just putting the perspective of understanding what it's like to be in somebody else's shoes: "Let me make sure that I'm open to at least understanding where somebody comes from." A lot of this Diversity, Equity and Inclusion that we talk about is unselfishness. It's changing your unconscious bias, understanding that that's a part of everyday life. I get it takes time to realize that you've been brought up a certain way and you think a certain way that not everybody else thinks. That's kind of the gist of why I'm so passionate about it.

MLB.com: What shaped your personal experiences to ready you for this role?

Scruggs: I've learned [the passion] along my way, going to the Dominican Republic [to play], going to Colombia, going to Korea, Mexico. All these things changed my perspective, as well as playing on [the Cardinals] with Oscar Taveras, who passed away, playing on [the Marlins] with José Fernández, who passed away. What that did for me was understand, “OK, I only have a small window within this game. How can I impact the community that I'm surrounded with, whether that be close friends, whether that be family, whether that be people in the community in my city, whether that be social media followers -- however I can impact those people?" That woke me up. We don't have time to waste as an athlete. It's get the education, get the information and be able to use the platform that we have.

MLB.com: Why was St. Louis the place you felt best to instill this passion?

Scruggs: St. Louis has been proactive in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion area [with a DEI consultant already on the business operations side]. They understand the past, the history of St. Louis, the past of their organization and trying to be proactive when it comes to these initiatives. I started studying a lot of this stuff over this past year. I was hoping to play but tore my Achilles and was like, “OK, I want to start educating myself a little bit more.” After doing so, I spoke to [president of baseball operations John] Mozeliak, and I was like, “Are we offering a program like this to the players, coaches and staff?" And he was like, “X, we're doing it within the organization, but you would be the perfect person to be able to implement this for the baseball side, because you've been in their shoes.” I grew up in this organization. This organization didn't just give me the opportunity to play Major League Baseball, this organization helped me grow from a young boy to a man. When I was drafted, I wasn't even 21 years old, so I needed the mentors within the organization, and I understand how important that is today.

MLB.com: How important/helpful has it been to have a clubhouse with some already outspoken players, like Jack Flaherty?

Scruggs: I've had the support of so many people that I had no idea of, that were behind these initiatives and this opportunity. I think the biggest thing for Jack is not even necessarily the ability to use his voice, but the ability to show that he understands that there's going to be positive reaction and there's going to be negative reaction. To educate yourself and to understand that, I think that's the biggest part of maturity. We can make tweets, we can throw stuff on Instagram, we can throw stuff on Facebook -- whatever it may be. But for somebody actually going out into the community, making strides and not necessarily caring so much about what the haters say or the opinions of others, but actually going out and doing the work, that's the first step. That's the first thing in changing your perspective and actually using the platform that you have. That's one of the things that I'm most excited about seeing from a guy like Jack Flaherty and seeing from people in this organization when we talk about using your platform.

MLB.com: What are the biggest barriers/challenges facing players today that you hope to help improve?

Scruggs: Educating and preparing players and staff for cultural differences in baseball and their communities, providing opportunities for players to become involved in their communities, to increase the exposure and awareness to cultural diversity. A lot of times we just talk about diversity, but the inclusion part is very important, making the players feel like they have a voice, making them feel like they can succeed in any environment that they're in, making them feel valued, making the minority players -- but not just minority players -- but all players feel like they have a voice within the organization. Also counseling and supporting the players by providing them timely and accurate information as it relates to adjusting to their environment, whether that be St. Louis or any affiliate. There's so much more that that adds to this, because it'll be an ever-growing type position.

MLB.com: What will a successful execution of this role look like?

Scruggs: I want it to be a shifting of culture, right? I want when people talk to people in the organization, I want them to say, “Xavier helped change the way that we think about the Cardinals organization. He helped us understand how we can progress in a very positive manner about the terms Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” I want when people talk to minority players to say, “Man, the Cardinals’ organization, they really gave me an opportunity to use my platform and my voice, and I feel like I was heard and valued as a player.” And then ultimately, I want other organizations to fall in line. I want them to see the Cardinals and say, “Man, what is this organization doing that’s so much better than ours? How are they getting into these different markets that we're not able to get into? How are they showing all the positive things about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, when we're over here on the other side, and everything seems to be negative about those things?” I want those all to be kind of the discussions around the Cardinals. I want them to look at the Cardinals and say, “Man, they're a pioneer in this space.”