BIRDS OF A FEATHER….

by Holly Horning

Last week, I wrote about the significant number of Dodgers who have been hired by the Tigers.

And a few readers expressed some concern about so many people being hired from the same organization.  A fear that the Tigers are trading 1 clique for another.

But there are a number of huge differences when comparing the old band of brothers with the new guys.

And it’s all very good news.

The fact is that the Dodgers have MLB’s best player development system.  Not even close.

All of these new employees haven’t worked together in a single cohesive group.  They simply come from a variety of levels and sub-departments within the Dodgers organization, not from a single small clique.

If you are doing the hiring, wouldn’t you want the very best people to come to your organization?  Of course you would.

And if you were in charge of the hiring, wouldn’t you want to bring someone on board you knew did excellent work?  Someone with a track history that you knew?  Of course you would.

You always want to hire people you know can do the work and meet the goals instead of people with whom you’re not familiar.

With that said, what makes the Dodgers’ player development system the best in the business?

Let me count the ways….

First, the team has won 7 straight NL titles with last year resulting in a 106-win season.  Of course, this amount of success means you pick very low in the draft year after year.  In LA’s case, the highest they have selected was 18^th.  Yet, they’ve maintained a top 5 farm system for the last 6 years in row.

Someone knows what they are doing.  Even when they are further hampered by all the rules – and the benefits given to small-market clubs and tanking teams – meant to inhibit single-team dominance.

More than one GM has said that the Dodgers are the model for the rest of baseball.  And now the Tigers have brought a number of them on board.

So how is LA doing it?

They are addressing all aspects of the development process from the mental makeup to the skills and to the physical programs that create the best and healthiest minds and bodies.

Despite the fact that they are technically signing lesser players because of the draft order, they continue to pick better than teams drafting higher.  Their prospects reach the majors faster and older players end up improving dramatically when they sign with the team.

LA manages to maintain a consistent prospect pipeline.  Free agents leave yet the team is continually replenished with homegrown stars.

The team has immense depth that allows them to easily add a major player from outside the organization via trade. Their system keeps churning out top quality prospects.

The Dodgers seriously invest in player development.  They lead in scouting, player welfare and having the best coaches and development staffers.

And it all starts in the minors.

Their minor league facilities rank among the best in terms of quality and equipment.

Stories over the past couple years point to the hardships experienced by MLB prospects from training facilities to housing to food.  Stories from clubhouse managers who speak about having to hunt for leftovers or serve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Even fast food.

Three of the 5 Dodger affiliates have traveling chefs.  The other two get catered meals from Whole Foods.

Scouts are on the record saying that it is very noticeable that the Dodger prospects are in great shape and look better than most of the other organizations’ players.

Their medical, training and conditioning staffs are rated “excellent.”  The latter two are ranked the best in MLB.

What the Dodgers have done, in a nutshell, is to emphasize superior physical development in all of their players.

Now, let’s turn to their scouting and drafting programs. 

No team turns out more home-grown players.  Players like Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Grant Holmes, Gavin Lux, Dustin May, Joc Pedeson, Corey Seager, Will Smith, Ross Stripling and Alex Verdugo.  This, btw, is the abbreviated list.

Then you’ve got the MLB-level players who came to LA and vastly improved:  Max Muncy, Chris Taylor and Justin Turner, to name a few.

In scouting, the Dodgers look for athletic, multi-tool players who are versatile.  They look at players with great plate discipline, hit for average, solid bat speed, superior hand-eye coordination and pitch recognition.  They’re not looking for power because they add it after the player signs.  The theory is if you have quality at-bats and great contact skills, then the power can be successfully developed with swing adjustments.

The most important quality in a prospect?  Someone who is open to change.

All of this translates into rookies coming up more quickly than others and experiencing somewhat seamless transitions.  It’s because the Dodgers help eliminate the learning curves.  One reason why they had back-to-back Rookie of the Years.

Player programs are individualized  Even before their first day, all the coaches know what the prospects have been doing and have written plans in place, ready to enact.

Does this sound familiar?  Chris Fetter, a Dodger alum, was doing that this year in Detroit.

The newest Tiger employees are trying to duplicate what they learned in LA.  And it also includes what is described as the most important characteristic of the Dodgers’ organization.

The corporate culture. 

From the scouting to the clubhouse and every step in-between.  It is described as “positive”, “empowering”, “creating lifelong learners” and possessing a “tremendous work ethic.”

A culture that allows the players to focus on just playing and not how to conform or succumb to pressure.  A culture that is focused on keeping players moving forward, staying comfortable and progressing smoothly.  That’s why they transition to the big leagues so easily.

We saw Akil Baddoo exemplify this during the last season.  We also heard that the Tigers were frustrated at how Casey Mize, Spencer Turnbull and Tarik Skubal had rocky starts to their MLB debuts.

And when your top prospects are struggling, it sends up red flags.

The Tigers went through 5+ years of sheer hell trying to get these top draft picks.  It’s now time to undo the damage and get them back on track.

And it’s about time.

---

(Please follow the rules at the link above, incl. comments limited to a max of 3-4 sentences, in order to be published.)

---

What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday? (And why aren’t you following TT yet?)

• Why we’re sad that Brad Ausmus didn’t make the final cut for the Mets’ manager opening.

Get your Totally Tigers fix beyond this blog.  We publish breaking news, national stories of note, videos, observations and polls throughout the day.  Every day.

Click here: https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb or simply enter “totally tigers bb” (make sure you add the “bb”!) in the search box at twitter.com and click on “Follow.”