Transportation in the Minors

Here’s a topic I haven’t seen discussed in a few years, transportation in the minors. I had a very enjoyable and informative dinner this week with another member of the HSBBW. Their son is in his second spring training and ours is attending his first. Both sons live on the west coast and were drafted by a team on the east coast and spring training is in Florida. The discussion turned to “what does your son do for transportation?” Not something I’d thought of in the excitement of the draft last year.

Now I realize money and parental support can solve the problem and we will come to a solution for this year that hopefully suits us both! But I’d like to hear from other members who have done this and what their solutions were. I’ve listed some of the options discussed and a few of the challenges.

• Walk – a nice green solution! In spring training son’s hotel is close to the field, walking in the rain is not always pleasant but he could tough it out for now. But, when assigned to a team, living quarters will not be within walking distance.
  
• Bum a ride for 6 months – a low cost solution if you can find another player with a car who doesn’t mind carpooling you everywhere for the length of the season. Once assigned to a team, player will have to be lucky to live with someone with a car who also doesn’t mind the carpooling gig. Or, if a player is with a host family, a ride to and from the field is usually provided but any other activities and you’re back to bumming a ride. Or you might be lucky and have a host family that will provide a vehicle to be shared among the players they are hosting. Works if they all have the same work schedule and can agree on the after hours activity. Never know until you get settled what the situation will be.
  
• Drive your car cross-country – CA-to-FL is 2 days and about 2,800 miles one way to get to Spring Training. Good option if you can handle the drive and the mileage on your car. Challenge comes in when you are assigned to a team. Some clubs will not allow a player to drive to their assigned location and must fly with the team. This is son’s case. So now they need to arrange to get the car to their new destination. Getting re-assigned during the season or staying for extended training all bring new challenges in moving a car around.
  
• Ship a car – saves on the wear & tear on the car and player, but cost is around $1,000 each way. (about 2 months of salary for a minor league player! ) They’ll still need local support because someone at the destination must be available for a 2-day window to take delivery of the car.
  
• Buy a car on the east coast and store it locally – saves on shipping a car back and forth each year but you’re adding the cost of purchase and storage.
  
• Rent a car – But most companies will not rent to a player under 25 years of age.
  
• Find a HSBBW member in the area with a car to borrow!
  
• Retire and be my son’s chauffeur.