[koohead]

the AA vs AAA infographic is extremely misleading. First of all, small sample size alert. More importantly though, the fact that the player skips AAA (and the reality of the relative small number of players who do this) indicates these are the outlier extreme talent players that have "nothing left to prove in the minors". The argument would hold much more water if the number of players in both samples were closer.

MiLB though is a study in the laws of percentages. The more players in a system, the better your chances are of striking oil with the handful that actually graduate to the majors and make an impact. The talent is out there, it's a matter of having resources to develop and find the talent. For every Matt Bush there's a Mike Piazza. If the Dodgers didn't have multiple Rookie or SA or Low A affiliates, would Piazza even had had the chance to get playing time (or even a roster spot) and develop?

I'm bias though...I grew up and went to college near Trenton and had the pleasure of being able to go to Thunder games with my college buddies and watch a sport I played and loved for a fraction of the cost and time it would have cost if we tried to go to NY or Philly. And living in AZ now I get the opportunity to go to Spring Training and AFL games. The small stadiums and proximity to the field gives that grassroots feel which made baseball the national pasttime. Yes, it's nostalgia and all that...but that's what many of us love about baseball.