I have noticed a trend over the 2023 MLB Season. Most of the top teams in each division or squads that are near the top have one thing in common. Franchises that were stuck in futility for many years thanks to bad ownership finally emerging into contenders. But how did all this happen? Well you could say it’s a combination of solid managing, excellent pitching, or a great hitting lineup. But over the last 5 years, many organizations in baseball, especially small market teams, have been blessed with a generational talent from the minors that has changed the culture immediately. For many years this was a rare sight in baseball especially in an age dominated by free agency, and big market superpowers. There have been some prime examples in which they’ve led to championships like the Dodgers with Fernando Valenzuela, the Orioles with Cal Ripken, the A’s with the Bash Brothers, the Braves with Chipper Jones, the Yankees with the Core 4. the Phillies with Ryan Howard, the Giants with Buster Posey and the Cubs with Kris Bryant. But as mentioned, baseball nowadays has seen plenty of those sequences play out in front of our eyes.
For most of the past decade, the MLB has been dominated by big market teams. Most of those rosters that won championships were guided by veteran leaders, players in their primes, or rentals that fit their system. Rarely in those years did a team have a generational minor league callup make such a difference. The trend began with the Washington Nationals towards the end of the 2010s. The Nats had been one of the biggest underachievers in baseball for almost a decade. A team blessed with Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper in the 2009 and 2010 MLB Drafts had yet to win a single playoff series. And even if they added Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon, and Trea Turner along the way, they needed a generational talent from their farm system that could elevate them to the next step of a championship. Enter Juan Soto. His callup may have cost them Harper the next season but the impact was tremendous. It allowed Washington to fill other holes in the roster since they didn’t have to pay him much. (Example: Patrick Corbin, and Anibal Sanchez) The result, winning a World Series in Soto’s first full year in the majors. And to do so, the Nationals got past longtime foes in LA and St Louis, as well as the Astros in a classic 7 game series. Even if Soto is gone, and the Nats have reverted back to being mediocre like they were in the mid 2000s, the strategy paid off in spades. Little did anyone in baseball realize that this instance would inspire other franchises to do this.
The next team to do this was the San Diego Padres. Until the arrival of Fernando Tatis Jr in 2019, the Friars were one of the biggest punching bags in baseball. The free agency spending spree of 2015 blew up in their faces and it led to one of the biggest tanks in baseball history. (El Nino was acquired by the Padres thanks to shipping off James Shields to the White Sox) San Diego went 13 years without a winning record including Tatis’ rookie season. But by the time 2020 rolled around, things got better for the Padres. Tatis, Manny Machado, and a young core around them took the franchise to heights it hadn’t seen since the late 1990s. Their first playoff berth since 2007 during the 2020 season, and their first NLCS since that magical 1998 run in 2022. Despite being one of the most unlikable teams in all of baseball, and having the moniker of Slam Diego, the Padres like the Nationals turned a murky situation into something special. Not to mention out of all the small market franchises they have by far the biggest payroll. And that’s thanks to an aggressive owner in Ron Fowler, and huge hispanic following within their fanbase. Most small market teams can’t provide that.
Just like the Padres, the Seattle Mariners were in the same situation entering 2022. Seattle had gone over 2 decades without making the playoffs. Years of horrible free agency signings, the wasted prime of Felix Hernandez, and a boatload of failed prospects had taken its toll. In 2021 the Mariners came within two games of the playoffs despite having little offensive production. The following year they would end their playoff drought, and also upset the Blue Jays in the Wild Card Round (Sorry Toronto, this is why we aren’t mentioning you. You gotta make it count when it matters or be a story in 2023). The major reasoning was a callup of quite possibly the most gifted outfielder that the Emerald City had seen since Ken Griffey Jr. Julio Rodriguez. From the moment he was called up, he not only energized the city of Seattle but gave that franchise new life. The result was one of the most enjoyable teams to watch in the 2022 season. They called it ChaosBall. A play style that would make Ozzie Guillen and the 2005 White Sox grin in delight. SmallBall, defense, solid pitching, speed, and the occasional clutch homer here and there. Even if they got swept in the ALDS by Houston, Seattle put up a strong fight against the eventual champs.
As for the 2023 season, there have been a bunch of teams that have proven this thinking. 6 teams to be exact, and most of them have been surprise success stories. The poster child of this renaissance of teams being boosted by a generational player or two is the Baltimore Orioles. Think about it this way. The O’s had been the worst team in baseball for a 4 year period. The dismantling of the Buck Showalter-led roster, plus one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball. Shattering the record for most homers allowed in a season in 2019. In 2021 they lost 110 games for crying out loud. There were rumors that Brandon Hyde wouldn’t last if this kept up. But then one player changed the culture of the franchise. Adley Rutschman. The #1 pick of the 2019 MLB Draft was called up in May of 2022, and since then he’s brought a switch hitting presence behind the plate, excellent defense, and a colorful team-first personality. The Orioles have fed off that. Over the past year they went from doormat to dark horse championship contender. And unlike most teams where it’s been one generational callup, Rutschman is not alone. The other big call up was another draft pick of the O’s in 2019. Gunnar Henderson. Like his fellow 2019 draftee, he has been a major boost to the offense and team chemistry. After being called up late in 2022, Gunnar has become a major cornerstone to Baltimore’s rise back to power. (The stretch he’s had in the last month is proof of it) The 2nd best record in baseball and only getting stronger from here on out. (I wish the media didn’t sleep on these guys so much)
Just like the Orioles the same can be said about the Arizona Diamondbacks. A franchise that has won only a single playoff series since their championship back in 2001. Years upon years of bad free agency decisions, and having a bad farm system held them back. The prime of Paul Goldschmidt was squandered thanks to those issues. In 2021 the D-Backs endured a 5-40 stretch in the middle of the season for goodness sake. There was no way that they would turn it around this quickly. But like Baltimore, one generational talent from their minor league system has all but resurrected the organization. Corbin Carroll. Just like Rustchman, and Henderson he too was from the draft class of 2019. And once Arizona called him up at the beginning of the season he is all but running away with the NL Rookie of the Year voting. Heck Carroll is making a case for MVP for crying out loud. The Diamondbacks have the best record in the National League, INCLUDING THE DODGERS! That’s how much of an impact he’s had on that team. (Well it also helps that they have the leading Cy Young candidate in Zac Gallen too)
The same goes for Tampa Bay. You want to know why they’ve had one of the best starts in baseball history this season? It’s because of a roster that has crushed everyone and everything in its path. When you start the year 13-0 and keep up this pace, you are a special team. And oh by the way they’ve been influenced by a generational talent despite excellent depth behind him in the lineup. Wander Franco. When he was drafted, scouts said he was the greatest shortstop prospect since Jimmy Rollins. And boy has he made good on those predictions despite missing most of 2022 due to injury. Look at the Rays record with and without him. Last year Tampa nearly collapsed and missed the playoffs once he went down with injury. Now that Franco is back, they’ve been the heavyweight they were in 2020 and 2021. He may not be a culture changer like many others that have been discussed, but Wander’s impact can’t be ignored. And this is despite Tampa Bay having no stadium solution going forward and being trapped in the dome of Tropicana Field.
How about their Florida counterpart in the Miami Marlins. If you thought the Rays were in financial hell, the Fish are in even more turmoil. A franchise that was basically at rock bottom then somehow found ways to go even further down. Since their last title in 2003, Miami has only made the postseason once. (And that was due to the play-in tournament in 2020) A team that has blown up championship or emerging rosters 4 times in their existence. The Wrath of Jeffery Loria consuming the team whole just like he did with the Expos. And then there’s Derek Jeter who had no experience as an owner and it forced him to get out of Miami the first chance he got. Then came two generational talents from the minors to bring the Marlins back to life. Sandy Alcantara and Jazz Chisholm. Alcantara for the last few years has been one of the best pitchers in baseball and just won the Cy Young Award. Chisholm has become an elite 5 tool player who has a play style that is both dangerous and awesome to watch at the same time. You can’t tell me that he isn’t one of the faces of modern baseball, especially considering that he was on the cover of MLB The Show 23. If Jazz keeps this up, he’ll certainly get much more attention than what he’s getting, especially if Miami makes the postseason. (Not to mention the Marlins top offseason acquisition in Luis Arraez is hitting near .400)
For a franchise like the Texas Rangers, who has long boasted an identity of throwing money at everything that moves regardless of whether it pays off or not, you’d think that they wouldn’t have a player who becomes a transcendent talent who comes out of nowhere and becomes a star. Well my friends, do I have a good one for you. Meet Adolis Garcia, a player who was put on waivers by the St Louis Cardinals because of a stacked outfield rotation in front of him. Many thought he wouldn’t get the chance to become a legit dynamo both at the plate and in the field. Once the 2021 season began, the man they call “El Bombi” not only realized his potential, but has become an RBI Machine that is a threat every time he comes to bat. Even if the Rangers made high profile signings like Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Jacob DeGrom, and Nathan Eovaldi, Garcia has been the engine that has made this up and coming machine move. They have the highest run differential in baseball, and lead an AL West Division that boasts the defending champion Houston Astros as well as Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and the LA Angels.
And to round this off, we need to discuss a player who, despite having just made his big league debut, has had a generational impact like those who have already been discussed. This story comes from the Queen City of Cincinnati. For most of the past 20+ years the Reds have been one of baseball’s afterthoughts. A team that’s most notable headline was Phil Castillini making some of the most bizarre statements in front of Reds fans prior to a year where they had one of the biggest tanks in franchise history. “Well where you gonna go?” That statement not only lived in infamy but somehow brought this organization back from the dead. In one year, Cincinnati has gone from a team that had one of the worst starts in baseball history to being within a game of the NL Central lead as we speak. We now know why Castillini said what he said. It’s because thanks to one call up, the fans in Cincy may have their savior to the lost years since the retirement of Barry Larkin. That man’s name? Elly De La Cruz. The Reds were on a hot streak leading up to him being called up, but now that De La Cruz is on board, Cincinnati has a chance to potentially run away with a division that has been tripping over themselves all year to this point.
And there it is my friends. The Impact of a Generational Player/Top Prospect in Baseball. This strategy can be so powerful especially for either small market teams or teams that have been suffering for so long. It comes to show you that despite teams with large payrolls and playing in big markets, there are always those types of franchises that can find ways to win despite not having the resources that teams like the Yankees or Dodgers have. And from how I see it this will probably continue. There’s a good chance teams like the Pirates, Cubs, and Tigers will find that one player or two, depending on how good their farm system is, that will bring them back to contending status. Here’s the lesson folks. Even if things aren’t going in the direction that you want them to go, whether you’re a player or fan, always think to yourself “You are one generational player or prospect away from turning a corner” because if you do, that moment comes before you even know it. And boy, as a fan of one of those teams that had this boom of an elite player or two come up and change the culture of a team, I’m here to tell you that the feeling is AWESOME!
Bragging Rights Sports 