Thursday, August 20, 2009

In terms of player development, the San Antonio Calzones de Laredo emphasize the need for an organized structure and reasonable operating plan in the development of their young talent.  As such, the Calzones strive to set forth and place into operation certain goals and criteria in the structure of the organization as well as the handling of young players in the development process.

Each level of the minor leagues is structured nearly identical to the PEBA team in terms of disbursement of players according to position and/or role (with the exception of short season Taku, where the larger roster requires an expansion of the numbers of players at each position according to criteria set forth separately).

At the PEBA, AAA, AA and A levels, each team has the following disbursement of players:

• 2 catchers
• 2 1B/DH
• 1 2B
• 1 3B
• 1 SS
• 1 Util infielder
• 5 outfielders
• 5 starting pitchers
• 7 relief pitchers

Ideally, at least two of the relief pitchers at each level have the ability to start in an emergency.

At the short season level, the following disbursement should occur:

• 19 pitchers
• 26 position players

Of the 19 pitchers, 11 should be capable of starting.

The ideal disbursement of position players should be as follows:

• 6 catchers
• 2 1B
• 2 2B
• 2 3B
• 2 SS
• 1 corner infielder (1B or 3B) in addition to those listed specifically at 1B or 3B previously, for a total of 5 corner infielders
• 1 middle infielder (2B or SS) in addition to those listed specifically at 2B or SS previously, for a total of 5 middle infielders
• 10 outfielders

An orderly progression of players through the ranks in an organized fashion is desirable.  To this end, we strive to meet the following criteria in player development:

Players drafted out of high school should expect the development process to take 4 to 5 seasons.  Players drafted out of college should expect the development process to take 3 to 4 seasons.  In certain circumstances players will advance more rapidly or slowly due to their own abilities, and each player will be judged according to their abilities and production.  Catchers can sometimes take a little longer to develop, and this is something we expect.  However, as a general rule, the guidelines set forth above and below are to be followed.

For pitchers drafted from high school, 800 to 1000 innings as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues is preferred.  For relief pitchers, 250 to 300 innings is desired.  High school pitchers are very likely to repeat at least one level, if not two.  Ideally, a HS starting pitcher will accumulate at least 400 innings at the low levels of the minors before promotion to AA.  He would then be expected to at least accumulate another 400 innings between AA and AAA before promotion to the PEBA level.  For a relief pitcher, at least 125 innings at the lower levels, then another 125 innings at the upper levels.

College starting pitchers can expect to accumulate 650 to 800 innings before promotion to the PEBA.  A college pitcher will be expected to pitch at least one full season at each level in most cases.  It will not be deemed necessary in all cases for a starter drafted from college to duplicate at least one level, but players will be judged on a case-by-case basis.  College starters can expect to be required to complete at least 100 innings at short season and at least 180 innings at each succeeding level before promotion to the PEBA team.

College relievers in most cases will be required to complete at least 175 innings in the minors, with about 45 to 50 innings at each level considered a bare minimum before progressing.

For high school position players, 4 to 5 seasons and 2,000 or more at bats is desirable.  A high school player should reasonably be expected to duplicate at least one level during his development, and possibly two.  Ideally, a high school player will complete 2 seasons at short season Taku and acquire at least 300 at bats before moving on to A-ball.  At least 500 at bats at each succeeding level will be desirable.

For college position players, a reasonable expectation would be 3 to 4 seasons of development and at least 1,500 at bats.  One season at short season Taku with at least 150 at bats.  At least one season at each succeeding level with about 500 at bats at each level.

For first year players at Taku, players drafted from college will be given preference for a starting role at Taku.  Players drafted from high school will most often spend their first season in a reserve role before moving into a starting role in their second season.

For young players – those who may be acquired at the age of 16 or 17 – a reserve role at Taku for at least two seasons is recommended.  No matter what level of talent we believe these players have, we feel that they will best develop by playing only sparingly at such a young age.  It is our preference to not give a player a starting role at Taku before the age of 18.

Each position on the A-ball field is unique, and as such there are unique criteria to be used when developing players at the individual positions.  It is our philosophy to create a steady flow of talent at each position, and to those ends we will institute the following policies:

Players at or beyond the age of 26 are not desirable in our system in most cases.  Players who lack the potential to reach the PEBA level and have reached this age will in most cases be let go or otherwise moved to make room for younger players.

In certain cases it will be desirable to have an older player fill a void as an organizational soldier and step in where needed.  These are to be strictly limited based on absolute need.

Catchers can often take longer to develop and generally have a shorter shelf life at the PEBA level.  In order to keep a flow of talent at the catching position, catching prospects will be advanced as follows.  After 1 to 2 seasons at SS Taku, a player will graduate to the backup role at A Drumright.  He will spend his second season at Drumright in the starter role.  From there, progression will be based on ability, production and need.  Catchers can reasonably expect to spend at least 3 to 4 seasons in the low minors before advancing to AA.

Designated hitters at the minor league level will generally be first basemen, though on occasion a glut of talent at catcher or in the outfield could necessitate getting those players occasional at bats at the DH spot.  Wherever possible, we hope to keep our more athletic infielders and outfielders in the field.

We value versatility among all our players.  We encourage having our young outfielders play all three outfield positions on occasion if they are so capable.  On the infield, we encourage the development of players at as many positions as possible, though we prefer not to waste an athletic player at first base, or a strong arm at second base, etc.  Players whose skills will best translate into a utility role at the PEBA level are encouraged to be given as much work as possible at their weakest positions.

The structuring of our outfielders at the minor league levels is vitally important as well.  Each level will have on hand five outfielders.  At the AAA level, three of these outfielders should be considered prospects, with a 4^th outfielder who is generally considered an organizational soldier.  A fifth outfielder at this level should be a more experienced veteran capable of filling a need at the PEBA level if injury circumstances should dictate.  At the AA and A levels, 4 prospects and 1 organizational soldier is the desired mix.  The 3 best prospects should get the majority of the playing time, with the 4^th outfielder giving each of the starters 1 or 2 days of rest each week.  This should allow each of the top 4 outfielders to play about 5 times per week and accumulate similar numbers of at bats.

Utility infielders should receive about 3 to 4 starts per week, keeping the other infielders properly rested and allowing the utility infielder to develop his own skills at the same time.

Drafting philosophy
We place an emphasis on defense and athleticism.  As such, it is our preference to not draft DH or 1B types, instead preferring to concentrate on more athletic position players.  No matter what a player’s power potential, if he can't play defense we are not drafting him – at least not in the first 8 to 10 rounds.  We can fill our DH/1B slots through late round picks or through minor league free agents, the waiver wire, etc.

We place an emphasis on being strong in the middle.  Catcher, second base, shortstop and centerfield.  A preference is given to drafting players at these positions.  If we are going to draft corner infielders, they will be more athletic third basemen who can later be converted to first base if need be.  Corner outfielders are low on our list.  A centerfielder can easily be converted to a corner outfield spot, but the reverse is not often true.

Our philosophy on the basic abilities we prefer to have in a player is to err on the side of defense, speed, athleticism and versatility.  Our preference is for players who can get on base, and then make things happen when they get on base.  Power is not a primary concern when we are drafting players.  Certainly we will draft some players with power, but our overall approach is to go with more athletic players as much as possible.

In order to implement our basic plans for an orderly flow of talent through our organization, we feel our plans are best served by implementing a draft strategy that has us alternating between concentrating heavily on pitching one year and heavily on position players the next, alternating back and forth in each succeeding season.  In seasons in which we are concentrating heavily on drafting pitching we will not totally overlook position players, but we expect about 75% of our selections to go to pitching, essentially only filling other positions on a basis of need only.  In seasons where our emphasis is heavily on position players we can still expect to draft about 4 to 5 pitchers, preferably at least one starter and one reliever within the first five rounds.

During each draft, we wish to keep a rather even disbursement of our selections between the college and high school levels if at all possible.  While an emphasis will always be on drafting the best available player, striving to keep a nearly even mix should facilitate a more orderly flow of talent through the system according to the guidelines we have set forth above.

Lastly, players are not to be haphazardly advanced or demoted due to need.  Prospects will be kept on an orderly development plan, while certain organizational soldiers will be used to fill openings created by injury, retirement, etc.  In worst case scenarios we will go outside the organization for a minor league free agent to fill the hole temporarily while not upsetting the development plan of the prospects within the system.