The Real Spring Training

“Is he trying out for the team?”

“When will he become a professional?”

“Is he going to make the team?”

Oh you silly, silly baseball amateurs. I don’t mean to judge, but do you have the slightest idea what Spring Training is all about? Have you considered the effort these men are putting forth while you sit on the lawn, beer in hand, acquiring some awkward tan on your beautiful, sunny day off.

Firstly, he is not “trying out.” Baseball players don’t try out for the major league team. The organization does not hold an open tryouts. This is not high school. Your average Joe can not pick up his glove and bat and play.

Secondly, every player was either drafted by that team, traded, or picked up as a free agent and is being paid and are under contracts. Although they are not payed much, they are still being paid to play. This in return means that no matter their level in the organization or pay grade, these men are professional athletes

Thirdly, what team are you referring to? The Big League team? One of the other five levels of the Minor League system? If that is your question, the answer is out of my control. But, let’s educate you on this topic of what Spring Training really is. Mind you, I am more educated on the Minor League side of Spring Training.

During Spring Training there are three types of camps. There is the Big League camp. This camp is for the players who are already on the 25 man roster with signed contracts with the majors. This also extends to the 40 man roster. This roster is composed of the 25 man, plus an additional 15 players whom the organization thinks very highly of and is usually awarded to higher draftees, and top prospects. A player on the 40 man roster may play as low as double-A and High-A. (If you don’t know the levels of the farm system, please refer to my previous post.) These individuals don’t make the salary of a major league player, but they make significantly more than an ordinary minor league player. Next, there are players who are lucky enough to receive and invitation to Big League Camp. These men are referred to as non-roster invites who may or may not have a chance to win a spot on the team depending on their performance. That, my friends is the first camp

Next, there is a camp called Mini Camp. This is also a camp where players are invited to. These invitations are extended to various minor league players who are also higher prospects in the organization. They will also receive money at the start of Mini Camp. This camp also starts earlier than the general Spring Training.

Lastly, we have the remaining minor league players who do not receive an invitation to either of the camps and report at a later date. But, I will be honest, the non-invitees typically report to mini-camp to show their dedication to their dream. These poor souls endure the earlier date with out any type of pay. This is one their own dime and they sacrifice their time. Keep in mind, there are no days off.

Spring Training games obviously do not count towards the actual season. A team is not showcasing their players and it does not represent what the season will hold. At every Spring Training game, you will find multiple “random” players. The fans are often arguing whom these individuals are and where they came from. They weren’t here yesterday, why today, and why not tomorrow? These individuals are players hailing from the mysterious Minor League side of Spring Training. Every game, players are chosen to go play with the Major League team in Spring Training. This is a great opportunity for some players. For some, it is a perfect chance to prove themselves and force the organization to take notice in their abilities. For others, it is mundane and routine as they already know where they are headed for the upcoming season. Then there are those few who go over multiple times, but never actually play. This is usually the case for relievers who are often brought over as “backups” and never intended to actually pitch in a game. The ones who actually may get the opportunity to pitch in a Major League game are the men in Triple-A and sometimes Double-A. The rest are there to ride the pine. If you prefer to call it tryouts, fine, so be it, but like every post in this blog, it is so much more.

Most don’t know why so many minor league players are huddled in the overcrowded dugouts and bullpens during Spring Training. The title quite literally means training. Just like any sport, you must train for it. You work out, get stronger, and practice. The “Big Leaguers” only play a few innings to prepare for the season. Towards the end a veteran player may only go 5 or 6 innings, while a guy trying to win a job will play the entire game. Once the older guys have finished, this is where the Minor League players come into play and to finish the game. And by older I don’t imply age, I refer to it as a player who has paid his dues playing in the farm system and ultimately made it to the show.

A starting pitcher whom during a regular season game is intended to to 7+ innings, is under a strict pitch count in Spring Training, and may pitch 3-5 innings. It is training. You have to ease the body into full season mode to avoid injury. After the starting pitcher finishes, then come in the Big league roster pitchers, who are typically scheduled to pitch. After that, they may have a Minor League reliever pitch in the later innings. Sometimes the organization wants to get their feet wet, sometimes they actually want to see them perform at this level, or sometimes are are just a backup. A lot of times, players will go over as a backup several times during the course of Spring Training, but never actually play.

Going into Spring training most teams are already predetermined by the organization. But most players do not know where they stand. They have a general idea based on where they ended the previous season, but Spring Training is a place where things change day to day.

There are tentative rosters in Spring Training. They are obviously larger to accommodate additional players. In several cases, players will be placed on a roster higher than a level that they played last season. Every player is trying to “win a spot” with the team at the level above previous seasons, which in rare cases is granted to them. And those rare situations are typically due to a minor injury sustained by a player in that position at a higher level, which  in return opens up a spot on that roster and as long as your next in line, you win that job…by default. A player could deliver the performance of their life in Spring Training, but will not advance in the organization.

But as all good things must come to an end, the exaggerated rosters become smaller and smaller as Spring Training comes to a close. It is a trickling effect that disturbs all players in every position. The Major League Camp men are cut (usually) early on. These men are composed of the remaining 40 man roster and the additional players invited to Big League Camp. It’s a money game. Why pay a player for time on the Major League side, when they have no plans for that individual to make the team. These men are typically put on the Triple-A roster, which becomes crowded, and in return can not accommodate the amount of players. This results in men being sent down a level and so on and do forth. It is also at this time where releases begin to happen. There is quite simply, not enough room for the overcrowded teams.

This unfortunate event effects nearly every player directly or indirectly. Men have been “demoted” from their previous year’s level to the one below for what seems like no reason at all. There have been men who were signed before spring training and released before it’s end. Also, men who performed exceedingly well the year prior and demoted or released. And even men who have grown in the organization, but ultimately have no role with the organization and they are also sent packing. Sometimes, players know the demotion or release is coming, but more often than not, it is a complete shock. And argue and question as the may, they have no say in their own job and are often given no real reasoning to the organizations decision.

As Spring Training comes to a close and men are traveling to their new home for the next five months, there are poor souls left behind. I am not referring to the men who have lost their jobs. I am referring to the men whom the organization will simply not let go, even though they have no room, and evidently no plan for that player. This portion on Spring Training is called, Extended Spring Training. Men sit in either Arizona or Florida at the Spring Training complex and wait. They are waiting for a spot to open up on a team, to get traded, or even released. There are too many players to fill the finalized rosters. In some cases a player will go with a team for the season and will be placed on something called the phantom disabled list, because you guessed it, there is no room and a team can only carry so many players.

This forces me to ask simple an obvious question. Why give a man such false hope if his role was predetermined long before Spring Training began? It is a sick and cruel joke to play with a man’s dream. You are not God, but a power hungry, controlling, megalomaniac stringing players along, dangling their futures in front of their face, unable to ever reach it.

I suppose there is a reason the minor league portion of baseball is called the “Farm system.” These men are pigs in your conglomerate. Sold, traded, and tossed aside as ridiculous high standards are not met.

I apologized for the obvious rant as emotions and stress run wild as Spring Training comes to a close. Players are finding where they will be living for the next five months. They are receiving undeserving demotions. Players are losing their teammates and friends as men with wives and children pack their gear and move on their next chapter in life. Which in most cases, they have no idea what that future may hold since they have been striving towards one goal literally their entire lives. They sit and wait patiently, hoping and praying another team will find value in their abilities.

Being released at the end of Spring Training is far more difficult than in the beginning. At the beginning there is still room for movement and growth. At the end, rosters are finalized and teams don’t tend to pick up a recently released minor league player. If they were to do this, the’d make a move and demote or release a player in order to open up a spot on their team. And somewhere down the line, someone gets the short end of the stick.

So you see, there is so much more to Spring Training than teams goofing around and playing against their friends. These men are working towards their goals and dreams that are so often more than not crushed in an instant. In my opinion, Spring Training is one of the most devastating and hardest parts to endure during the long baseball season. If you are a fan, and you just read this, set down your beer or your hot dog and take a moment to understand what these men are going through off the field. To perhaps understand, even slightly, what goes on beyond the entertainment of a sporting event. It is so much more.

Below are some images from various Spring Trainings to help illustrate the size and numbers in Spring Training. Every man, with the same goal.

This picture I fell illustrates the pure size of a Spring Training camp. Only 25 men will make any given team. This image is from (metsmerizedonline.com)

Here you can see several catchers. A team will carry two. This image is from (www.bostonherald.com)

Also, pitchers…endless amounts of arms in Spring Training. I can’t even count them. Most teams will carry, 11 to 12 pitchers on their roster composed of 5 starting pitchers and 6-7 relief pitchers. This image is from  (www.mcall.com)