Independent Leagues

I don't know of any official ranking, but I think for sure the Atlantic League is the strongest, with by far the most players who have MLB experience. I have heard the frontier league is rough equivalent of A level affiliated ball.

 

In my experience, with my son having played one season there, I'd say that's about right on the average, but the distribution of talent is probably more variable. That is, there are more players who probably are not the level of A level affiliated ball, and more players who have at some point been past that level and are trying to hang on.

 

 

RK is right on the money.

The Atlantic League is made up of many former ML players/ AAA players.  They say it is comparable to AAA/AAAA ball, and your stats are extremely important. They have try outs but just a formality, just as MLB.

The Frontier League is good, with players that have done well in Lower A affiliated ball which is the difference between the leagues.

The funny thing about these leagues, some think it is easy to get into, but they want to win, so your resume, or strong recommendation is usually a requirement.

Just curious...what is the average salary for a player in the Atlantic League?

Depends on experience. A former ML guy with incentives maybe 3500.

So I am thinking that the list in ranking order goes something like this:

Atlantic League

American League

Can Am League

Frontier League

 

I think its more about where the opportunity exists and who will be keeping a watch over you.

 

3500 a month doesn't sound too bad.

3500 is the max and that would be for ex major leaguers (Atlantic League).  Also included can be incentives. So if you were once getting paid 2K a day, or 50-80K as a free agent in the minors, 3500 isn't considered good at all. I think MTH is accurate, there isn't a big difference in some of the leagues.  The oldest players can be found in the Atlantic League, and many of  those guys are just career pro players who are too old by ML standards.  I am not sure of the exact salaries but I understand they are not even close to milb pay?

 

Interestingly, people think that you go to play so a scout will notice you, not sure that is all that correct because a ml scouts job is to scout players for ml and found at the milb parks or at the HS, or reading the release list daily.   However, if a team has a need, lets say for an A team for a lhp , they will call the leagues and ask for numbers, these numbers if good will get you looks. As one friend told me, sometimes they will just meet you at the local HS to see you throw, or to hit.  Your manager and coaches recommendations are important as well.

 

FWIW, there are leagues that have caps on accepting players who they consider "vets". This would be for former milb/mlb players with a certain number of service years.

 

Most teams have one day open tryouts, this is how a player with no prior experience possibly can get into any Indy league without any recommendations. However, like anything else most leagues will only take players on recommendation. Those players never drafted are strong recommendations from a college coach or a scout.

 

To make it and stay in a milb team from an independent league, it is about numbers.  You have to put up numbers for any ML team to consider signing you. You have to put up numbers to play or they will release you as well.

 

Hope that this helps anyone ,like me, who didn't know much about indy ball teams.

 

As Floridafan wrote in his very first post in this topic "The Journey continues" I am thankful to say that is the case with my son today. The one single most thing I can say watching my son and any young player still pursuing his dream to play this game is that it can be quite humbling. The young men who have played affiliated ball and now find themselves in Indy ball grinding and working hard to get back to there have my utmost admiration and respect. Last summer in the Peco's league my son saw and learned a lot of things good and bad about Independent baseball. And a lot of that had to do I think with the way the league was ran by the Commissioner and how he treated teams, coaches, players, fans, pay, travel, et al. Some players there in that league seemed to focus solely on those attributes and had a miserable time while fortunately my son was just happy to be there and pitching again. lol. It was a great experience for him because just prior to the season beginning and being out of ball for a year he pretty much thought he was done with the game.

 

My son just recently attended a 2 week camp down in Florida where it was mostly about professional instruction on tweaking and fine tuning your mechanics. With the hopes of leaving with the camp with a contract for this upcoming season in either affiliated or Indy ball. Since he never had any pitching coach in college that really knew much about pitching at all, he was as excited as I have ever seen about the things he was learning while at this camp. Just for a refresher course I would highly recommend this camp for any player still pursuing the dream.

 

He left camp with a contract to play in the American Association this season and is glad he doesn't have to go play in the Peco's league again! lol. Not that THAT would have been a choice! So he's quite excited about being able to now be in a place to hopefully produce and have numbers as TPM said above and be in venues that actually DO have affiliated scouts in attendance. Not just "rumors" like he kept hearing all during last season in the Peco's.

 

Just from the very little that I know about Indy ball I would agree with everyone above that the Atlantic League is the "limelight" and is top notch along all lines. And the other (3) mentioned could all be thrown into a bag and pulled out in any order. In fact, I think I saw a stat recently where the Frontier League had more players this past year picked up by affiliated teams than the other (2). So really it comes down to being in the right place at the right time with good numbers and the right set of eyes see you.

 

I want to give special thanks to a couple of fellow posters on here who have been really supportive and encouraging to me along this journey thus far. Floridafan and Southernmom. They have really helped me see things from different perspectives and stay grounded each step of the way. Both of their son's are extremely talented players and from all rights should find a way back into affiliated ball hopefully this next coming season.

 

YGD

YGD,
I commend your son for not giving up. Good luck to him.
Just a foot note. The American League is made up of older and former players from affiated ball. They dont get picked up as quickly because they wont take anything below AA. Many guys who were former ml guys get paid well and look for winter ball jobs where they get paid better than they would in milb.

Former Duck player was signed to carribean league team for 17k a month! 
Again I wish your son the best.

Young gun, congratulations to your son.

i wonder if staying on after in Indy ball, sets one back in their eventual job career?

 

Pop up walked away after college like he never played baseball and is well settled working at a major company (not McDonalds), lol.

 

He evidently figured MLB passed him up 5 years in a row, he wasn't good enough to play professionally. But he still gets tagged as an MVP in the company, funny they use the same terms. 

 

As much as we enjoyed watching him play sports, his mother and I are happy he and his wife are close by. 

 

 

I haven't agreed with you in the past, but your first sentence is right on. Yes, I believe that in most career opportunities, these days, the older you get the less of a chance you get against the competition  (as is the case in affiliated ball).

Of course lots has to do with ones life's experiences, employment history and whether they have a degree, etc.  

 

I wish that people would really understand the business of baseball, and most importantly that no matter what Indy League you play in, this is about filling seats, selling food and making money for the owner (s), not helping any player get to the next level.  

 

First of all, let me say thank you for the congrats on my son. The dream to one day play MLB for any player is astronomical. I can't remember what the odds are but we've all heard it before. Ridiculous in most cases. However, it's obvious that there ARE some players who did what it took to get there whether it was sheer God-given talent and ability, hard work, right place/right time, luck, et al. Some of the players that are in MLB and MiLB currently all got there on a road that is completely different than most everyone else's while there may be some that are similar. Whatever the case may be, they all had to determine to themselves it was what they wanted to pursue no matter the cost or hang up the cleats.

 

I don't pretend to sit here and know what any of these Independent Leagues or teams are capable and/or willing to do for older players that may have played MLB or MiLB. This will really be our first real experience as last summer was just a learning tool for the most part. I'm not a betting man but besides filling seats, selling food and making money I'm pretty sure that there are a few teams and/or Coaches who do put some effort into helping and assisting some players get seen and hopefully picked up by an affiliated team. Are some of the Coaches and/or Managers nothing but drones who are there just to coach or put together a line up each day? I'm certain there are. I realize it is up to the player and putting up strong numbers to catch an eye. That goes without saying but that's the same as for MiLB as well.

 

Independent ball to MLB is a very long and winding road for players desiring to still play the game and get there. It's certainly not for every one and for those who hang up their cleats after college or even after playing a while in MiLB there is not one single thing wrong with their decision. Eventually they're all going to hang 'em up for one reason or another. But Indy Ball is not some league where anyone who loves this game as we do should ever look down at these young men and shake our heads as if they're wasting their time. It's not our decision to make. It's their's and their's alone and eventually they will figure it out on their own. They know going in that the odds are just a little bit harder and for those working to make it I don't believe you'll find a  young man with more grit and determination than him.

 

As far as how many players from the American Association get picked up by affiliated teams, I know that it is quite minimal compared to the number of players who begin the season with each team and the number of players that go through the league during the season. In 2014, they had 21 player's contracts sold to MLB and in 2013 they had 22 I believe. Small numbers but, still decent enough to make young men dream.

 

I won't bore you with how hard my son has had to work just to GET to a quality Independent league. We would have been equally as excited had it been the CanAm or Frontier Leagues. But as many know and have said, you usually don't have tryouts with these individual teams and if you're lucky you can find a team here and there having a private workout by word of mouth. Unless you have played prior MiLB ball about the only other way to be seen or get on one of these teams is a very strong coach or Scout recommendation. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a bit nervous because as one Boston scout told him "you're about to be playing with the big boys so get your game face on". I know he's determined to compete and show he belongs there not by luck or chance but, I've seen him working hard since his last game end of July last year. Who knows at this point what is going to happen out there. But as I said above he feels fortunate that his journey to this point has landed him on this team in this league with a remote chance of possibly being seen by the right person as long as he is producing good numbers and can compete. Like any of our boys chasing the dream, good or bad and no matter how it ends all of this will one day be a part of their story.

I understand what you are saying. Not sure that you understand what I am saying. 
Best of luck to him.
Do you mind me asking your sons age?

You should check out the Bush League

Most of the players signed out of the CanAm and American League seem to be between 24-27.

My guy is going at it one final season to see if he gets picked back up by an affiliated team.

Not sure what ygbb321 means by his comment but it sound derogatory if so, you can **** my ***!

 

I think he was referring to being amatuer in nature and reality is..that it is.
While a few teams in every league are very good,  the difference is that no matter what team in any league, there is no developmental program. Affiliated ball is about player development. So IMO you cant compare them to even being close.
I say this not to be negative. Son played in independent ball on a pretty well run organization. He liked it, was treated well and great fan base. There are a few teams as a pitcher that you stay away from in that league. IMO there is never really a "plan".

For those intersted in following the leagues...download the app pointstreak.
Someone just wrote to me that years ago the indy leagues had more significance because when teams got short they took players. Scouts were everywhere. Now teams pull from their latin base.