Using the Farm Systems

Okay, I’m going to be bluntly honest. If I was to have a weakness, it is baseball articles. I think I have only written one in my entire life, and I honestly can’t ever remember publishing it, so it may have just been an idea that stuck in my head. This site was made to help my sports journalism career and make sure I didn’t get rusty. However, I also want to improve. So I know right now you’re seeing all these football articles and maybe you’ve seen a little bit of basketball, but you won’t see that many baseball articles on this site. You need baseball content right now as it’s in the thick for the playoff race, so I’ll try my best. For the record, it’s hard to come up with ideas, but this site of mine will allow me to improve. These are the articles I want your opinions on the most. So please, if you feel generous enough, drop two cents in the comment section down below.

With that out of the way…

I was watching Joey Gallo, someone I instantly connected with at Buffalo Wild Wings in a meet-and-greet with him, Lewis Brinson, and CJ Edwards back in 2013. They were young studs, just drafted, and could tell they all had bright futures, as Brinson’s the only one to still be in Triple-A and yet to crack the majors. As I watched Gallo in Hickory (the Low-A affiliate to the Texas Rangers) I realized he had tremendous power, enough to be in the majors and likely winning a Home Run Derby or two in his career. My dad told me in the car earlier this summer, paraphrasing, that he loved Lewis Brinson but Gallo was “Mr. Excitement” because he could hit the ball far. Then I’m seeing all this negativity on a Rangers page, being highly critical of Joey Gallo.

I could dive right on in to the fact Joey Gallo is only a rookie. I could say he only strikes out as much because of that high inside pitch. I could (I did) bring up their hypocrisy because once Gallo would hit the ball across the fence, they’d love him and want him to get more at-bats for the Rangers. But I really feel I should mention that Joey Gallo leaped from Double-A Frisco to the Texas Rangers after the injury occurred to Adrian Beltre, and that was likely the reason for his decay.

This post isn’t about Joey Gallo, even though I happen to be his biggest supporter (ask Wayne Yeager). This post is a short rant on how baseball should be using their farm systems.

I find it very unique how baseball develops their players. Some of these kids are taken at 17, 18 years old, and drafted into playing for a big paycheck like they built a time machine and traveled 4-5 years down the road in a matter of seconds. While the NBA has a D-League team for less-advanced players, which some organizations share, each MLB team has a farm system of their home of multiple developmental teams and locations, for players to “level up” and improve along the way. While the NFL instantly places rookies into the line of fire, the MLB is trying to get as much as they possibly can out of new talents by slowly bringing them along. It’s fascinating to me!

But how about some of the ball clubs slow it down and don’t rush into things? This website took months and countless hours put in to become a product for you to read my sports articles. And you know what? It’ll take months and countless hours put in to become a product for you to read QUALITY sports articles. I’m appalled at how some organizations feel they can bring kids up before they’ve finished three seasons in the minors. Joey Gallo (Rangers) and CJ Edwards (Cubs) have already had their major league debut, as I mentioned earlier. Guys like Kris Bryant (Cubs) have went up just as quick, discounting the fact he had some time in college. Not to mention, my mom followed the quick rise up the minors for White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon. Rodon, in less than a calendar year, had somehow made his way up through the minors and into an official White Sox game day jersey.

For guys like Gallo (batting .214) and Rodon (6-6 record) their statistics have suffered, likely because they were called up too soon. Are they still going to have historic careers? I hope so. But are we robbing fans of their greatness because they didn’t spend some more time in the minors, working on stuff they’d see in the major leagues? If some clubs are going to throw the kids into the fire before they’re 95% ready, is it that much better than what the NFL or NBA does?