Apparently,the Pirates GM Neal Huntington has given far more control than he probably should to Kyle Stark,the assistant GM/the teams director of player development,which is a fancy term that means that Kyle Stark is in charge of the Pirates farm system.
Stark's zany ideas for developing players have included in the past and just concluded last week for 2012 ,a boot camp that puts players through "Intense SEAL Drills".
That's SEAL as in the elite NAVY unit,not Lou Seal the San Francisco Giant mascot.
I respect our military and believe that training for their job is a must,so this is not a shot on them at all.
However,we all have,in any job,trainings that enable us to do our jobs,but these are not one size fit all trainings.
The things that I learn to do my job are different than those that work in retail,which is different from those that work on vehicles etc and my point is more that these do not make sense for the skills needed to be a professional athlete,with the possible exception of those participating in the combat sports.
Now,,any professional athlete should be in good enough shape in order to do these drills(within reason) and that is not really my point as it is not the physical aspect of this training that concerns me.
It is the fact that the team is sending their BEST prospects to run with telephone poles on their shoulders,blasted with water at 5 AM,flipping truck tires and my personal favorite-hand to hand combat.
Professional athletes run the risk of injury in everyday workouts,but to risk your highest rated players of the future for what appears to be nothing more than Kyle Stark's real life Call of Duty fetish is risky at best and foolish at worst.
These drills led to a minor knee injury to Jameson Taillon last year and putting at risk a player that you paid a multi-million dollar bonus to in these senseless programs is the epitome' of reckless thinking.
You think the Pirates are a synonym for laughingstock now?
Imagine the howling if a Gerrit Cole or Jameson Taillon suffers a injury that changed their career path.
We all know how susceptible to injury pitchers are to begin with,does it not seem downright dumb to risk these types of investments in something that has nothing to do with baseball?
Moving away from the physical risks,lets move to the issue that might concern me even more-how these programs affect the players mentally.
No.not that it would drive them off the deep end ,but this point makes me wonder-If players in the minors feel a lack of faith in the organization,would that hurt the organization years down the road when the Pirates are attempting to sign players to long term contracts?
If you feel that issues persist inside the organization and would have a negative memory of an experience (s),I would think that would weigh heavily against returning to a team when you have the option to go elsewhere.
That is a question that may not be answered for years as these players have to make the majors and then serve their time to earn free agent status,but it will be interesting to look back at that years from now,especially if Neal Huntington and Kyle Stark are in their positions for a while.
The Kyle Stark email seems to me to be,well ridiculous.
Considering that and the "Hoka Hey" stuff,it really is no different than you see it in many everyday jobs.
People that are often out of touch and hold higher positions in the corporate world put out this type of "inspirational" memos/newsletters all the time and usually they just make people snicker as they send it around the office before it winds up in the email trash or the literal trash.
It's funny to read,but it rarely motivates anyone,no matter the originators intent,but it still is harmless in its basis.
It does show how a man in an important position with the Pirates and it can be argued that for Pittsburgh there might not be a more important position than in developing players,is thinking in a manner that seems to be suited for anything other than developing young baseball players.
What Stark says is not as important to me as the thinking behind it and that thinking is not baseball based.
Check the email out.
It says the word baseball twice in the first paragraph and then the word is never mentioned again for the remainder of the mail.
Now,consider the amount of money that the Pirates have spent in the draft and the players that the Pirates have truly developed thus far with the money/players that have been given to Kyle Stark and his "innovative" ideas and come up with the players that they have developed.
Pedro Alvarez,Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon out of the draft.
SO outside of players selected with either the first or second pick of the draft,these ideas have basically produced zero players with all of those dollars.
This has to be embarrassing to owner Bob Nutting and his top front office Frank Coonelly in combination with the latest collapse that has taken a division leader that might fail in getting to .500 yet again,a feat that seemed to be a fait accompli' a month ago,perhaps to the point of a change in management personnel.
Considering this debacle combined with the late summer swoon and the controversy involving the State College Spikes,Neal Huntington might be somewhat wobbly,but I would be stunned if Kyle Stark survives this PR attack considering his track record to begin with.
All and all,this has to be a minor embarrassment to the team,but the bigger concern has be the decrease in confidence by fans in the Pirates front office
I have tried to believe in the direction that the team has tried to take,as I believe there is not another viable direction to build Pittsburgh other than through younger (and cheaper) talent,but even for me-this raises doubts on whether or not the Pirates are on the right track.
Hoka Hey was the war cry of the Native American Crazy Horse and Stark uses this to conclude his email.
Crazy Horse or just plain Crazy?
You make the call....
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