The Kids Are More Than Alright Articles / David Lengel Date: Aug 27, 2005 - 03:27 AM In baseball, the new boys have to pay their dues. Players drafted by Major League teams may get a nice signing bonus—but they just don’t waltz into the Bigs—with the pomp, circumstance, stretch limos, entourages etc. Instant saviors playing on high school and collegiate baseball diamonds are as rare as Jonny Gould donning a shirt with any kind of style. In basketball, it is possible to draft a player who will have an immediate impact, like LeBron James—or on a more human scale, Emeka Okafor. It is also possible in American football, if not slightly more on the rare side. But in baseball, a young draftee may play under the bright lights, but he usually won’t get near the big city. First round picks, second and third round picks, all the way to the last man selected go to the same place. The minors. And there they play, a majority of which will spend at least a couple of years—inching up the ladder, hoping to get an opportunity to play at the highest level. Some get there quicker than others. Hall-Of-Fame pitcher Jim Palmer reached Baltimore after one season and wound up winning 268 games in his 19-year-career. What has interested me this season is the success of a few AA callups, who had the pleasure of jumping the que in their route to substantial meal money, first class charter flights, and leather lockeroom sofas. We all know the damage Albert Pujols has done to NL pitchers during his rapid rise from an AA roster to an everyday spot in the Cardinals lineup. It’s refreshing to see a player in a sport that can sometimes seem glued to traditional big league protocol, do so well so quickly. Miguel Cabrera made the move from AA, boosting the Marlins in their bid for a second World Series title. As someone who follows the Mets, it is frustrating to look around the league and watch players who performed well being promoted before reaching AAA ball. If someone does a good job, then give him an opportunity. And I’m not talking about sitting him on the bench—let’s see him out there getting a real shot—especially if there is no alternative. Why plug in a 37-year washed up vet when you can have a young hungry, and of course, cheaper option. There are more organizations that don’t immediately promote players excelling in AA ball than organizations that do. So often we hear about the damage you can do to a player by brining him along too early in his development. But these are players who have been doing little else but play baseball their entire lives. If they got this far, and they are dominating AA ball, bring them up. Let’s go. The Mets rarely do so. Even a player like Virginian David Wright, someone whose star potential was obvious, had to make that mandatory stop in Norfolk, just so his high school buddies could watch him play in the AAA International League. Just look at what the Braves have done. Atlanta has promoted three players from AA Mississippi this season. Ryan McCann was the first to come up, making solid contributions following an injury to Eddie Perez. McCann became a favourite of John Smoltz, and proved his AA stats were no fluke. Then came the move that is fuelling the Braves attempt at a 14th consecutive divisional crown. Jeff Francoeur was batting .275 with 13 homers and 62 RBI’s, which are huge numbers in the AA ball—especially when it’s only early July—when he got the call. Yes, he was rated as the Braves best prospect by Baseball America. But that, and his performance in Mississippi, would not have been enough for a lot of clubs to promote him to the parent team. Credit them for not wasting his and the organizations time with a mandatory pit stop in AAA. The third player is even more interesting. On August 20th, Atlanta brought up Joey Devine—a phenomenal name for a fantastic AA prospect. Not only was he promoted from AA, but he was only drafted THIS YEAR! It happens every now and again that a player makes it to the top in the same season as he signs his first pro-contract. But amazingly, Devine was moved to a first place team. Yes, he did give up a grand slam in his debut, but it shows that the Braves have enough guts to try and fix problems on their team with players not yet playing on AAA ball. Call it a desperation move if you like—it was the right thing to do. His AA statistics were 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 28 strikeouts in just 20 AA games with Mississippi. The National League team in New York finally gave in, giving an AA prospect a shot. Mike Jacobs has four homers after initially getting little attention from manager Willie Randolph. It looks like he will play everyday—at least until Doug Mientkiewicz returns, and it looks like it could make the difference down the stretch. As examples like this continue show teams that a little faith in their system can save them from overpaying for an older, less productive name, the trend should grow in future seasons. This article comes from UK MLB Supporters Club http://www.baseballfan.co.uk/ The URL for this story is: http://www.baseballfan.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=188