My son graduated from college this May. He was asked to play for a new independent league team. There were four teams in the league. Long story short, one team folded, and son has yet to be paid. He has pitched in 3 games so far, about 17 innings, scheduled to pitch in 3 more. Does this "qualify" as a year of professional ball? Someone told him make sure he doesn't go over 20 innings because it would cost him a year of independent ball. Can anyone clarify this? Thanks.
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from the frontier league website, a local independent league:
"
Club rosters will be composed of a minimum of 22 active players and a maximum of 24 active players.
Beginning with the 2011 season, the following rules shall apply: Each club must carry a minimum of eleven (11) rookies (combination of R1 and R2 players) with no professional experience other than specified below and may carry a maximum of thirteen (13) players with unlimited professional experience.
No player or player/coach may have attained twenty seven (27) years of age prior to January 1 of that playing season with the exception of one player who will be designated as a “Veteran” player who may have attained thirty (30) years of age prior to January 1 of that playing season provided that he meets the qualifications listed below.
For the 2014 season, players must have been born on or after January 1, 1987 to be eligible, aside from the Veteran classification player (one per team) who must have been born on or after January 1, 1984.
Rookie Classification: The Rookie classification will be split into two sub-classifications, Rookie 1 and Rookie 2. The Rookie 1 sub-classification will be for players who made their professional debut in the current season and therefore have no prior professional experience. The Rookie 2 sub-classification will be for players who held the Rookie 1 sub-classification in the previous year in the Frontier League or began their professional career during the 2013 season.
Minimum Appearance Exception: Beginning with the 2014 season, a player must have accrued a minimum of 50 at bats, 10 games pitched, or 20 innings pitched in a season for that season to count toward the classifications.
Experienced Classification: The Experienced classification is for all players who do not meet the requirements to be classified under the Rookie or Veteran classifications.
Veteran Classification: The Veteran classification is for a player who is over twenty seven (27) years of age but has not attained thirty (30) years of age prior to January 1 of that playing season. The player must have been listed on a Frontier League active roster or injured list for a total of one hundred (100) regular season games combined during the previous two (2) seasons.
21-year old exemption: Any player who is twenty-one (21) years of age or younger on or after January 1st of any season and is entering his first year in the Frontier League, regardless of any prior professional baseball experience, will be considered no higher than a Rookie-2 by Frontier League Rules. For the 2014 season, a birthdate of January 1, 1992 will be the cutoff to qualify under this provision"
Thanks for the info. I guess what I am also trying to find out is what qualifies a team or league as being "professional". Is it just the fact that the players are paid? What if the players are told they will be paid but aren't? In my opinion, the league my son is in is nothing more than a glorified men's league.
Professional means that he is getting paid to play ball. Getting paid takes away ones amateur status. There are many teams that claim to be "professional" but they are not because they are run poorly. If your son signed a contract and hasn't received money from his team he can go to the league. Read the contract. Do not do anything without a release from that league. That may prevent him from ever playing anywhere else in Indy ball.
I don't know the rules for rookies, but I would be very careful about joining a league that is new and then comes up empty on pay day. He could ask for a release and then try to find a spot on a better well run and known league (like frontier) for his age group. But still be aware there are differences in how teams are run, within their own leagues as well as around the country. Similar to the college leagues, some are better run than others.
If your son went to play hoping to get a chance in mlb, I am pretty sure no scout will be out watching any team that has 4-1 teams. They have better places to find players.
Lots of stuff to learn about the Indy leagues, there are pros and cons, IMO.
I am not sure if one needs to worry about playing a lot of seasons for professional ball.
Good luck!
