Family, fraternity and baseball: SEMO graduate Jason Steiner's path to dream job with L.A. Dodgers

For Southeast Missouri State University graduate Jason Steiner, the new year meant a new journey and the opportunity of a lifetime.

A job in Major League Baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Steiner, a 22-year-old native of Wentzville, Mo., was hired as an affiliate development associate and is currently based out of the Dodgers spring training facility at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. He is tasked with working with the team's rookie-level affiliate the Arizona Complex League Dodgers.

Steiner's duties include capturing video of and logging Minor League games, assisting coaches with daily tasks such as providing scouting reports and aiding with travel, and compiling video and data for scouting, player development, and strategy, among others.

Just three months into the job, Steiner said there’s “nothing that I don’t like about it.”

"I love every single part of it,” Steiner said. “The fact that I'm starting this at the age I'm starting it right out of college, that's probably what excites me the most. But I love everything about the job.”

The journey to become an employee of a Major League Baseball team began when Steiner was a child. A lifelong baseball fan, Steiner's passion for the "Great American Pastime" began as a way to bond with his father, Mark.

Steiner grew up watching the Cardinals with his dad, who taught him about John Mozeliak, the team's general manager at the time. Steiner said he knew he would “never be good enough” to make the big leagues as a player, but his father was instrumental in showing him he could still have a career in the sport.

"John Mozeliak was kind of the face of the Cardinals in terms of working for them," Steiner said. "He was a huge inspiration and my dad taught me about him. My dad also taught me about other front office heads that worked for the Cardinals, and he taught me that I could do the same thing.

"Without him, I would not be in the position I'm in today."

On March 26, 2024, Mark died at age 61, but his memory lives on.

“It'll be a year in about two weeks,” Steiner said. “In terms of baseball, school, and my career, he's definitely been the biggest X-factor in it all.

"The fact that I get to do this every day in his honor, it's the coolest thing in the world."

Mark was also influential in Steiner's decision to attend SEMO. He and his brother had also earned their degrees from the university and had successful careers in their respective fields. A sales manager by trade, Mark helped Steiner develop his initial leadership and professional skills and provided valuable insight on how to stand out to employers.

"I was originally going to major in sports management, but my dad was like, ‘Why would you want to major in something that everyone else that wants to do the exact same thing is going to major in?’ So, he and I decided to do something a little different,” Steiner said.

During his tenure at SEMO, Steiner majored in political science, which helped him learn about arbitration, contract structure, and the legislative process, and minored in computer science. While his education was important, Steiner credits much of his success to being a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity at SEMO. While his father helped him develop professionally early on, Steiner said his time with Sigma Nu “refined it.”

“They reached out to me on Instagram one summer, and I just rolled with it and had a good feeling about it,” Steiner said. “My recruiter at the time, Elliot Siekman, told me about how they really try to prepare you for life after college. I'll be straight up with you, dude. I finished high school with a 2.7 GPA, and I finished at SEMO with a 3.7, so Sigma Nu helped me get all my stuff together.”

Sigma Nu's While with the fraternity, he served as its president during his junior year and oversaw chapter operations such as holding the university’s Board of Governors accountable, keeping up with chapter finances, and submitting paperwork for national awards. He also received the President of the Year award at SEMO during his tenure.

Throughout his four years with Sigma Nu’s Mu Kappa chapter, it was named the university’s Chapter of the Year each year and led the campus in grades, philanthropy, money raised, and service hours. Additionally, it was one of nine schools to receive the Chapter Award of Distinction presented by the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) in 2022 and 2023 and is the only fraternity in the country to be honored with the distinction in back-to-back years. Mu Kappa also won three consecutive Rock Chapter Awards, which are presented at Sigma Nu’s national Grand Chapter events and is given to chapters that "maintain a state of excellence for a consistent period of two-plus years."

In a statement to the Southeast Missourian, the Mu Kappa Chapter of Sigma Nu commended Steiner’s efforts while he was involved with the fraternity.

"Jason's involvement in Sigma Nu was marked by his commitment to fostering brotherhood, promoting academic excellence, and supporting community engagement,” the Mu Kappa Chapter of the fraternity said in a statement to the Southeast Missourian. “His leadership extended beyond titles, as he led by example, creating a positive impact on those around him and helping to shape the culture of the fraternity. Through his dedication, Jason exemplified the values of love, truth, and honor that are central to both SEMO and Sigma Nu."

Steiner got a taste of what it would be like to have a career with a pro baseball team through internships while in college. He served as an affiliate intern with the Cardinals’ AAA affiliate the Memphis Redbirds and a baseball operations intern with the Chatham Anglers, a team that plays in the summer collegiate wood-bat Cape Cod Baseball League in Chatham, Mass.

“(In Chatham) I created all the advanced scouting reports for our team, every team that we faced. I gave our coaches kind of run downs on the pitchers and hitters that we were going to be facing,” Steiner said. “Then, as the MLB Scout liaison for the team, I would communicate with all the scouts about who was hot and cold out of the bullpen, who was going to be hitting and pitching, what time in an outfield batting practice was and just kind of gave them inside scoops on guys for the MLB draft.”

Following his summer tenure with the Anglers, Steiner said he began applying for jobs due to his impending graduation, which he strategically planned for the spring semester because it was during the MLB’s offseason which would give him a better chance at landing a job. He applied with the Dodgers and was invited to the MLB’s Winter Meetings where he interviewed with the team. He was offered the job on New Year’s Day.

While he hoped to end up exactly where he did, Steiner said he didn’t realistically expect it.

“There were so many times I didn't think I was going to do it,” Steiner said. “I already had my mind set on plan B. I was planning on being a data analyst for a different company. I was talking to several different companies and I was considering leaving baseball because I didn't think I was going to get a job. Especially after the holidays had hit and I still hadn't heard anything.

“Then, on Jan. 1, New Year's Day of all days, I got the phone call saying that I'd been offered the position.”

Being the proverbial needle plucked from the haystack, Steiner explained that, in addition to his qualifications, he had to rely on “a bit of luck” to get the job due to the number of applicants. When applying for jobs where there may be many applicants, Steiner said a clean, well-crafted resume and cover letter, along with persistence, is key to standing out from the crowd.

“Just give it your best shot and take your time. Don't rush into anything,” he said. “Gain other people's opinions on different questions they're asking you, or how your resume is. Things like that. Just keep trying and apply to as many different places as possible.”