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Rookie League, Minor League and Major
League Parents:
We've received several comments and emails regarding the
placement of players in our competitive leagues (Rookie
League and above are competitive). I want to share with you
the process that we use for player selection in these
leagues.
I often get emails or phone calls from parents asking for
advice as to what league is 'right' for their child during
the sign-up period. The advice that I almost always give is
as follows. If you are having a tough time deciding between
NL Majors and Minors, for example, I usually recommend that
the parents choose Minors. My opinion is that I would rather
a child be one of the top four players on a Minor league
team than one of the bottom players on a NL team.
During the many years that I have managed teams in HOYB it
has always been the case that after the season is complete
the parents tell me that it was a good choice for their
child to be in the lower level league. The child often
becomes a team leader due to their extra maturity and they
generally have more success on the field. Make no
mistake, being successful on the field is a very important
ingredient to a child enjoying his baseball season.
During signups, parents are
free to signup their children at whatever level for which
they are age/grade eligible. At that point it is up to the
good judgment of the parents as to what league would be best
for their child to participate.
This year we had 284 kids signup to play in the competitive
leagues and only 282 available slots. However, the
distribution of signups were such that after the AL Majors
draft was complete we had to drop 32 players down to be
eligible for the NL Majors draft. Consequently, the NL draft
dropped 18 players to the Minor League draft and the Minor
draft dropped 23 players to the Rookie League draft.
Finally, the Rookie League dropped two players into the
Machine Pitch league.
This was a very competitive group of players and the draft
process worked very well. Most all of the managers have been
managers or coaches in past seasons so they generally know
the players from on-field experience. Also, the managers had
the end-of-season
skills
evaluations available from their prior team manager to
rely upon. Lastly, for those that made it to the tryouts,
the coaches had a chance to evaluate them this month. So,
there are at least three sources of information regarding a
player available during the draft.
While managers are free to choose from the available pool of
talent, it is in their best interests to select the best
available players. Is it possible that your child is a
better player than someone the same age who was drafted into
a higher league? Of course. No system can be perfect. What
can be done about this if you feel your child was
overlooked? I recommend that children play on the team they
were drafted and 'prove everyone wrong' by their performance
on the field. It is my experience that the most talented
players in a league are always drafted into a higher level
during the following spring season (assuming they are
age/grade eligible).
As an example, a few of the most talented 2006 Rookie League
players were drafted into the Majors this spring. So, it is
possible to skip leagues if you are one of the best in the
league. On the other hand, a child could play a maximum of
nine years in HOYB yet there are only seven leagues
available (T-Ball through AL Majors). So a child must
repeat a league at least two times in the HOYB program.
Everyone repeats leagues, it is the way that our leagues are
structured.
I hope this note helps to answer some questions that you or
your child may have about their team placement. It is my
firm belief that the skill levels within leagues and teams
are much more evenly matched than in past years. No child
should feel that they are in way over their head or
conversely, that they are so good that they are way ahead of
everyone else in the league or on their team. Competitive
leagues where no team dominates the competition and where
games are close are fun and exciting for everyone!
I hope you enjoy the baseball season and let your league
Commissioner know how things are going!
Let's Play Ball!
Neil Bonner
HOYB President & Commissioner
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We
are often asked how our player draft process works and how players
are selected to play in our various competitive leagues.