Baseball is just as unique as any other major sport to date, one reason to prove the uniqueness is due to the “Minor Leagues”. The MILB is often referred to as a farm system, why you might ask, this is because the league is known to grow young fresh out of high school/college talent, to become the best they can be entering into baseball’s top rankings. The way the MILB works is by tiers, you have over 120 teams affiliated with each of the MLB clubs separated into four different tiers or levels of play. Those different levels from the bottom to the top are; Low-A (I work at this level with the Bradenton Marauders), High-A, Double-A, and the last stop before the major leagues is Triple-A. Each of these different levels has a bunch of teams that are affiliated with an MLB club, all of which have players developing to become the next big thing in the MLB.

As you might know, I have the great pleasure of working with the Bradenton Marauders (Low-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates), and I was able to ask a few of the ballplayers what they love about the Minor Leagues… Dariel Lopez, an infielder for the team told me that…

“What I like the most about playing in the minor leagues is the competition and if you have good teammates that’s the best way to compete because you know you have that support.”

Dariel Lopez, Infielder for the Bradenton Marauders

this is my second minor league season working with the Marauders and boy do these guys support each other, these guys have each other’s backs especially when they got into a physical fight this season. One of our pitchers for the team, Adrian Florencio told me…

“What I like the most is all the many things that I can experience that serve as an experience for my development on and off the field Because I know that at each level I will learn new things that will make me a better player in the future.“

Adrian Florencio, Pitcher for the Bradenton Marauders

Player development is a big thing when it comes to the entire aspect of Minor League Baseball. The MILB as a whole is devoted to developing young stars and shaping them into professional baseball players, Adrian is one of those who have a chance to become the next big name in the MLB. I have gotten the pleasure to talk to a couple of other guys in regards to their Minor League experience, guys such as Catcher Endy Rodriguez, and Infielder Alexander Mojica. The last guy however that I would like to talk about what he said is Infielder Jase Bowen, when asked about his favorite thing about playing in the Minor Leagues he told me…

“Being able to live out a childhood dream. Also developing relationships with the boys”

Jase Bowen, Infielder for the Bradenton Marauders

Keeping it real, for many like Jase they grew up passionate about the sport of baseball and now they get to pursue it as a career in life. While living out your dreams you often pick up many friends on the way, and playing baseball professionally you find a lot of great guys pursuing the same thing you are, therefore relationships are made. Even I grew up playing baseball as a young kid, I had always dreamed about playing professionally but God had different plans. Being in my early twenties, and working for a team that has many guys similar to my age, I think it is fun to watch their careers grow in comparison to mine, this is why I love the Minor Leagues and continue to believe that baseball is the best sport in existence!

Signing off for now!

– Logan Thai Butler