The term “prospect” means something to baseball fans. When a player is considered a top prospect, they could often be a first round pick. These players could see large signing bonus’s, lots of press, and a dedication of an entire fan base based on the narrative that is automatically created around these players. For a fan base, it ignites something for them. It’s a look into the future of the team they love. It’s a sense of relief for fans of struggling franchises. It adds excitement and it allows fans to look forward to the day they get to see the player they were told would change the anatomy of their team.
I get it, trust me. It is exciting. It is a look into the future and it definitely offers a sense of hope. But there is also misinformation behind the idea of first-round picks and major league baseball prospects as a whole, and there are many sides to it. The fans involvement, the medias involvement, and most importantly the teams’ involvement, which are all aspects that need to be considered when talking about the future of a team. After reading a tweet sent out by Jared Diamond, national baseball writer for the Wall Street Journal, his statement resonated with me while provoking thoughts in which I think are important to discuss. The tweet read:
“Never forget that MLB wants you to overvalue prospects. It’s in the owners’ best interest. The league has done an amazing PR job at convincing fans that prioritizing the future over the present is a brilliant baseball strategy rather than what it is: a way to suppress wages.”
If you’re anything like me, you love to read replies to controversial statements on the internet. And in this case, there is a lot of mumbo jumbo that took place in the replies with various directions people took his thoughts. Technical phrases like “service time manipulation” and “replacement player value” where among issues people expressed. But in my opinion, no one really touched upon what I think they tweet is also suggesting- that the journey from players been deemed prospects in the minor leagues and their journey to the major leagues is actually created and manipulated by major league baseball, and often not by statistics or how a player will perform in professional baseball.
Over the last few years, my experiences have empowered me to think more about the business of baseball. To step away from the side of me who is used to experiencing the game from the stands, yelling at the players for striking out, cheering loud when my favorite player is thriving, all while being an innocent bystander and simply a fan. I’ve said many times and I’ll say it again. I wish I could go back to those days. I wish I could be so innocent and live in oblivion from the truth that many don’t want to face, that sports, as a whole, have become solely about financial transactions. And although I wish I could go back to those days of naivety, I can’t, and instead of letting it ruin my love for the game, I’ve vowed to use it as a way to create a more realistic narrative to what goes on behind the closed doors of professional baseball, and sports as a whole. I hope not to offend, but to shine light on the ignorance of who they invest in vs. who statistically and humanly deserves a chance. To discuss how the handling of prospects and the power they’re given from has created underlying issues throughout the minor league system that seem to continuously be ignored.
I still love the game. I still give a big part of my life to the game. But wouldn’t it be awesome if the game we all loved so much was operating fairly?
One of the biggest questions I have thought about in the last few days has to do with the call up. Many people believe that giving up “top prospects” or “former first rounders” is the worst thing that could happen to your franchise. Those glimmers of hope in the coming years these players bring them is enough to hold on to to get them through a few more years of suffering.. That these players could one day be walking out to their new fields to applause and think, “we could have had that moment. That was our future.” But how do you know that is the story that is going to unfold?
I started to think about the last few years and the diversity of players who have had chances at the major league level. The question I’ve pondered is why does it feel so different when a major prospect makes their debut vs. a non-prospect? As a longtime Mets fan, why did it feel like Christmas morning when Jacob deGrom took the mound for the first time in June 2014 as opposed to the ordinary day Jeff McNeil made his major league debut?
Let’s take a look into this suggested situation. No one knew who Jeff Mcneil was. He had been in the minors since 2013, drafted in the 12th round, and spent much of 2017 playing A ball. Why was this any other day for Mets fans? Why wasn’t there 24-hour coverage on SNY dissecting every single positive way he will impact the team as a whole?
Think about it. They are both achieving the same feat. They have both accomplished the same goal. They are both taking the field at the same ballpark. Why do we prioritize prospects over other players we may not know so well if there is a chance they could both end up playing on a major league field? You could argue that Jacob deGrom, regardless of position, posses more natural talent than someone like Jeff McNeil. You can argue that Jake was born to play in the major leagues and Jeff worked hard enough to make up for his technical shortcomings. There is a reason for that old saying, “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” Regardless of how or why they got there, they both ended up in the same place. Who cares how either of them got there. They should ultimately be judged on their contributions, and not their status.
But once you open the door on this topic, the mind does not stop. Why do we know some names over others? Why do we crave the day certain players take the field for the first time? It is because major league baseball has told us who to be excited for and who to ignore and they have done this with pure fiscal liability in mind. The players they invest the most in are the ones they see the opportunity to get the most back, which is often not always the case. You would think that every player has a fair shot, but unfortunately that’s not how things roll in this business. Even though history time and time again has proven this method to not be successful, a las they continue. So we will continue to discuss it.
There is an issue with the minor league system that could be dissected down to the smallest aspects of poor work ethic among players, mistreatment of teammates and clubhouse culture, to more monumental dynamics like pay wages, stock piling talent, and the draft giving out millions of dollars to players they have no idea how they’ll progress. There is an overwhelming uncertainty in drafting players and that is putting it lightly.
If you look at the make-up of each team, only a handful of them have seen overwhelming success at the major league level with early draft picks. Some notable teams who have been able to pick the golden tickets are the Phillies, Angels and the most obvious team, the Athletics. But looking beyond, teams end up losing out on the money they’ve invested in these players. If this were something teams were okay with, seeing an investment fail and knowing its part of the process, it would be another story. But the truth is, while teams are trying to put falling stars back in the sky, a lot of talent is overlooked. Thus enters people like Jeff McNeil sneaking their way onto a major league baseball field without us even knowing he deserved it.
This has to do with the gold medal they tell these “top prospects” to wear throughout their entire careers through the minors. Teams and baseball as a whole have strategically created a narrative in which we should only care about the names they predict posses all the talent. The save the dayers, the “stars”, the ones they are telling you are the future, the ones they have already paid.
The truth is, baseball is unpredictable. There is no possible way to know who is going to rise and who is going to sink when thrown into the competitive world of the minor leagues. The media plays a big part of this and so do the fans. The media overlooks the accomplishment of those without the big names while the fans boo at the no-names in front of them not understanding the impact they could have. There are stories behind everyone, and those stories are what I strive to tell everyday, so my message to the media is If you don’t know their name – certainly you can learn their story.
The truth is MLB really has done a fabulous job of over valuing prospects and underwhelming those who have the same outcome of what they wish for the prospects they value. In the real world, you work for what you get, those who work hard – get rewarded and those who don’t dwindle away and out of the limelight. It’s pretty simple sociology. So we must continue to raise discussions about the shortcomings that are happening in sports, because we know how much power they have. Sports have created identities for people who need something to believe in. They have brought people together, while creating opportunity. There is so much positive that lies within the industry, while understanding there are aspects that could be addressed and readjusted.
It should not matter where you have been placed in the system.
babeswhoball.com 