Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomcoach
Expanded rosters have been around since 1921, so it seems a bit odd to get a "these kids nowadays" complaint about them.  With a "molly-coddled" there, the only thing missing is a "get off my lawn" and a reference to "wait until the Millennials have to deal with the real world".
I have to wonder about your definition of "molly-coddling". Players earn an average of about $6K in Single A, and about $15K. No per diems, don't get paid during spring training or in fall leagues. Outside of the top prospects, they get to pay for their own equipment.
I am hardly a spring chicken myself, and there are plenty of changes I am not used to, but I don't think I have ever thought of minor league baseball as any sort of happy go lucky time.
Back to the idea of roster expansion, I don't think you get a true picture of how a prospect is doing, until you put him against some major league opposition, be it an injury call-up or fall expansion. I have always been uneasy about roster expansion because of the integrity of the games played, especially when my team is trying to catch up and the guys at the top are playing against a team with nothing prospects in the line up. |
So who said it was a happy go lucky time?
At one point in time there were no minors either, but baseball managed to get by. The vast majority of minor leaguers never make it to the majors. The ones who work hard at maximizing their talent (funny, there's that "hard work" term again) make it to the bigs. Like I said, play hard, work hard, if you have the talent you'll get noticed and called up.
I stand by my original question - why do you need to bring them up to see if they're ready? If they're playing and working hard, they'll get called up. They'll get noticed because they'll stand out above their peers.