Minor league

From BR Bullpen

Minor League baseball is the farm system for the majors. There are multiple levels of minor league baseball, ranging from Rookie Ball (limited to players in their first or second years of professional play) to Triple A, which is the step right below the major leagues. Branch Rickey, the general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 20's and 30's, is credited with coming up with the idea after being burned by minor league operators who would sell players on option to the highest bidder. Rickey decided that if the Cardinals owned the minor league team, the Cardinals could decide the disposition of the player in question.

Originally, a minor league was a seperate entity with a pennant race of its own. The clubs would try to develop talent, either by signing new players or buying players from lower levels. The team could then hold the player to win more pennants (see Lefty Grove) or sell to the majors or another minor league club to turn a profit. Now the minor leagues are part of the major league franchise itself, with six steps from Rookie to the majors.

[edit] Further Reading

• Neil J. Sullivan: The Minors The Struggles and the Triumph of Baseball's Poor Relation from 1876 to the Present, St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, 1990.
• Bill Weiss and Marshall Wright: The 100 Greatest Minor League Teams of the 20th Century, Outskirts Press, Parker, CO, 2006.