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My Guides have three minor league clubs around New England:
1. The AAA Atlantics in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
2. The AA Islanders of Bar Harbor, Maine
3. The single-A Grays of Barre, Vermont
I think it's safe to say that I obsess over the minor league clubs in my organization as much as just about anybody, and I've been this obsessive for a while.
I thought I'd make a running thread sharing updates along with my approach.
The former might interest my few fellow minor league aficionados.
The latter could help newer GMs and also give the veterans a chance to tell me why I'm an idiot. Who could resist?
General Minor League Philosophy:
I abide by a few key principles that I try to make as evidenced-based as possible.
I. I consider the primary goal of the minor leagues to be the development of players who could help my BLB club someday. This has a couple important implications.
1. If there is essentially zero chance a young player will ever make it to the BLB, he does not have a spot in my organization. If OSA or my scout or stats say a player is utter rubbish, then there's no point in having him because he's taking an opportunity away from someone who maybe does have a chance. (Corollary: If a player is too old to play at a level of the minor league that suits his performance or ratings, then he falls into that category nine times out of ten.)
In short, if the point is to use the minor leagues to develop potential BLB talent, then it makes sense to use your minor league roster spots on guys who could actually develop into BLB talent. That 31 year old with the 4.00 ERA at AA is taking up a spot a genuine prospect could have. Also, you have roster spots. Use all of them!
2. Okay, so the first assumption — that a prospect could develop into a BLB player someday — is out of the way. The next step is asking the question, "If he did develop into a BLB player, what type of player would he be?"
I'll give some examples.
(Underlined is a hyperlink.)
J.J. Walker is someone I drafted in the tenth round in 2014. He's a college third baseman. He probably isn't a good enough prospect to have a legitimate chance at a starting third base job. And a bench player who can only play third base doesn't offer much versatility. Then it follows that his best chance at making it would be becoming more versatile. He has the defensive chops to play outfield. So I've been teaching him how to play first base (got it down) and the corner outfield positions (getting there).
Erik Blake is someone else at AA I've been working with. When I acquired him, he was a young second baseman. Now, I already have Jarrod Rowles at second, and he's only a bit older than Blake. This fact, along with Blake's solid but not amazing bat, mean he might be better suited not as a pure second baseman, but as someone who can play on the left side of the infield, too. So he's been learning to play shortstop (and doing well) and he might get some reps at third base soon, too. By becoming more competent at additional positions, he opens up more opportunities where he could make it to the BLB, whether it's as a starting shortstop or a utility infielder who plays all three spots.
Bottom line: Try to envision what opportunities could take your prospect to the BLB someday, and do your best to support him in having those opportunities.
II. There is a connection between morale, performance, and player development.
I don't know exactly what the mechanism is, but I've found that players develop best when they're receiving regular playing time and being appropriately challenged.
Morale and performance are linked, so trying to support a player feeling good and playing well makes sense.
Tips for keeping a guy feeling good and playing well:
1. A positive, winning club helps. If you can put together a minor league group that has a bunch of smart, unselfish players who work hard and win games, it creates a good environment for your players to develop.
2. If a player is struggling at the plate, now is a bad time to try to teach him a new position. It's too much stress and too much work. I usually wait until a player has proven himself a competent hitter at his current level before I attempt to play him at a brand new position.
3. Keep an eye on a player's current ratings. The potentials aren't the only ones that matter. If you have a hitter with 3/2/2/2/3 ratings, he's probably not ready to play everyday, even at single-A. Bring him along slowly.
4. Put players in positions where they can be successful. If a left-handed batter is really struggling versus left-handed pitchers, think about giving him a break and starting him full-time only against right-handed pitchers.
More to come as I think of it.
Regular minor league updates to follow.
Other people, feel free to post with your ideas.
1. The AAA Atlantics in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
2. The AA Islanders of Bar Harbor, Maine
3. The single-A Grays of Barre, Vermont
I think it's safe to say that I obsess over the minor league clubs in my organization as much as just about anybody, and I've been this obsessive for a while.
I thought I'd make a running thread sharing updates along with my approach.
The former might interest my few fellow minor league aficionados.
The latter could help newer GMs and also give the veterans a chance to tell me why I'm an idiot. Who could resist?
General Minor League Philosophy:
I abide by a few key principles that I try to make as evidenced-based as possible.
I. I consider the primary goal of the minor leagues to be the development of players who could help my BLB club someday. This has a couple important implications.
1. If there is essentially zero chance a young player will ever make it to the BLB, he does not have a spot in my organization. If OSA or my scout or stats say a player is utter rubbish, then there's no point in having him because he's taking an opportunity away from someone who maybe does have a chance. (Corollary: If a player is too old to play at a level of the minor league that suits his performance or ratings, then he falls into that category nine times out of ten.)
In short, if the point is to use the minor leagues to develop potential BLB talent, then it makes sense to use your minor league roster spots on guys who could actually develop into BLB talent. That 31 year old with the 4.00 ERA at AA is taking up a spot a genuine prospect could have. Also, you have roster spots. Use all of them!
2. Okay, so the first assumption — that a prospect could develop into a BLB player someday — is out of the way. The next step is asking the question, "If he did develop into a BLB player, what type of player would he be?"
I'll give some examples.
(Underlined is a hyperlink.)
J.J. Walker is someone I drafted in the tenth round in 2014. He's a college third baseman. He probably isn't a good enough prospect to have a legitimate chance at a starting third base job. And a bench player who can only play third base doesn't offer much versatility. Then it follows that his best chance at making it would be becoming more versatile. He has the defensive chops to play outfield. So I've been teaching him how to play first base (got it down) and the corner outfield positions (getting there).
Erik Blake is someone else at AA I've been working with. When I acquired him, he was a young second baseman. Now, I already have Jarrod Rowles at second, and he's only a bit older than Blake. This fact, along with Blake's solid but not amazing bat, mean he might be better suited not as a pure second baseman, but as someone who can play on the left side of the infield, too. So he's been learning to play shortstop (and doing well) and he might get some reps at third base soon, too. By becoming more competent at additional positions, he opens up more opportunities where he could make it to the BLB, whether it's as a starting shortstop or a utility infielder who plays all three spots.
Bottom line: Try to envision what opportunities could take your prospect to the BLB someday, and do your best to support him in having those opportunities.
II. There is a connection between morale, performance, and player development.
I don't know exactly what the mechanism is, but I've found that players develop best when they're receiving regular playing time and being appropriately challenged.
Morale and performance are linked, so trying to support a player feeling good and playing well makes sense.
Tips for keeping a guy feeling good and playing well:
1. A positive, winning club helps. If you can put together a minor league group that has a bunch of smart, unselfish players who work hard and win games, it creates a good environment for your players to develop.
2. If a player is struggling at the plate, now is a bad time to try to teach him a new position. It's too much stress and too much work. I usually wait until a player has proven himself a competent hitter at his current level before I attempt to play him at a brand new position.
3. Keep an eye on a player's current ratings. The potentials aren't the only ones that matter. If you have a hitter with 3/2/2/2/3 ratings, he's probably not ready to play everyday, even at single-A. Bring him along slowly.
4. Put players in positions where they can be successful. If a left-handed batter is really struggling versus left-handed pitchers, think about giving him a break and starting him full-time only against right-handed pitchers.
More to come as I think of it.
Regular minor league updates to follow.
Other people, feel free to post with your ideas.
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