The System for selecting umpires for MLB is flawed.

[dumbdumb]

I honestly don't think the system is flawed, an I think to say so after a week where we had 2 highly publicized umpire errors is not fair.

 

I think having 2 schools is just fine. From what I know most of the people at either school aren't necessarily seeking a PBUC invite. And that's great for them. But you still end up with probably over 100 between them that are. Then the top grads from each get a PBUC invite. The top performers from each of those get a spot with MiLB, then there is a second tier of guys who get sent to the CPL. Some who get the CPL will get their shot at the minors. 

 

But the end story is every year you have a hundred or so people every year vying for these coveted jobs. Remember in the entirety of professional baseball there are only 295 spots (68 MLB, 225 MiLB). For you to move up there needs to be a vacancy ahead of you.

 

So lets start at MLB. We had only 3 retirements so Carpazza, Porter & Gonzales got the knod. - The past few years there have been a pretty high number of retirements. Some years there won't be any MLB openings,

 

That by itself created 3 AAA openings, in addition there were a few resignations/releases that created I believe (and dumbdumb will correct me if I'm wrong ) 14 AAA openings.

 

Continuing on those 14 promotions plus resignations/releases created  18 Spots in AA.

 

18 guys being promoted to AA plus resignations/releases left High A with 23 openings

 

23 Low A guys were promoted plus resignations/releases leaving Low A with 30 openings (an entire new staff)

 

I don't know all the details for Short A or Rookie league since their seasons just started but you can see the effect. 

 

So they have all the applicants they need to get the jobs done without scouting each and every year and they have the luxury of  being able to work guys through the system and continually evaluate them and make their decisions on who to hire,keep & promote.

 

Another aspect on why scouting is not practical is once guys have the experience to standout as good college umpires, they are making more money at their level than they would in MiLB, and if that wasn't a factor for them the money would probably be. The better NCAA umps they would want to scout would generally be older than the guys coming out of PBUC, have pretty good day jobs, families and may not have much interest in the time it would take to rise through the minors. 

 

The down side is that yes they do lose some potentially excellent guys in the process. The time & travel wears on you and your loved ones, the money isn't incredible and then the aspects of umpiring we all deal with can cause some guys to not chase the dream any longer. 

 

But overall I think the process works. If you have the talent and ability, you may make it. But some will depend on luck too. You need enough openings above you to keep you moving. If there is a bottleneck at the top you could be one of the best and not get a shot, those are the breaks. 

 

The way I see it (my best guesstimate) there looks to be some continual retirements the next few years, but sooner than later the class of 1999 will be among the most senior followed closely by the hires since then. I think this would create a pretty large bottle neck of younger umpires who probably won't be going anywhere anytime soon. 

 

On the flip side there is always talk of league expansion - which would mean more umpires. Adding 2 teams generally means adding another umpire crew. Plus any expansion teams would need to create a farm system adding to the minor league head count. 

 

So the system is not broken. It's imperfect. 

UIC

You pretty much nailed it. There are at least 30 openings since both low A long season staffs are all short season promotions with no returnees.

If others from 2012 short season retired or were released there would be more openings.

 

The short A season "has not" started yet. But, why quibble, it will start after the June (6-8) draft, usually around June 18-22, or in time to get in a 70 game season.

 

Now for 570:

 

Now, if there was only one profession in the world, then we could guarantee the best of the best for that one profession. More money could increase the pool of applicants for all professions, not just umpiring.

 

There are some people who would argue that no relatives whatsoever should be allowed to pursue another relatives career due to the potential for favoritism, or potential for a conflict of interest. That way, if the individual did not make it, that individual could not cry that they were not promoted for fear of showing favoritism.  Also if they did make it, other people could not say they only made it because of their relative. Darned if you do darned if you don't. So, you shouldn't even try a relatives profession, go find your own profession and own it. For those who think like this, good thing that is not the thinking for the DiMaggio family. Since Vince made it first we would never had known Joltin Joe or Dom DiMaggio. What about the Alou family? No Mike Piazza since Lasorda drafted him dead last as a favor to the family. For umpires, there would have been no Paul Runge since dad Ed made it first, no Jerry Crawford since Shag made it first.

 

No umpire ever promoted themselves, someone else promoted them. They just worked the games. They have plenty of time to decide on the umpires they hire for the staff. Many get a look but do not get hired. So in essence that is how they fire umpires who do not measure up. It is the people who hire the MiLBU who are to blame if one wants to play the blame game. The umpire just works the game and then the ones who do the hiring decide who is the best. The umpires do not pick themselves. The Commissioner can jump in any time he sees fit and invoke, "in the best interest's in baseball" if something is not right. He can inquire about anything in baseball. He can go find out anything about a MiLB umpire. He could go ask all the MiLB managers who is the best and totally go around any umpiring department or Joe Torre or whomever to get the best of anything for MLB. Just don't blame the guy who is working the games. Somebody else selected that individual, not that individual themselves. Maybe those in charge do not know what a MLBU really is.

 

Lance Barrett worked his first MLB game at 25 years old. At 27 he worked 104 games for probably 80-100k. Are doctors through with all their schooling by 27? Are they making 80-100k and above immediately on the way to around 400k without being a specialist. At one time Senior umpires made 60% more (170k to 110K) than the MLB player minimum for a guy who rides the pine all year. If the same were true today, that would be 800k for Senoir umpires

 

There is no perfect system. If you are the greatest thing since sliced bread and the Babe Ruth of umpiring you will make it. If not, you will not. Only 1 opening is needed.

However, there are only 68 jobs as opposed to how many in various other jobs throughout the world. If you are the best, the world is your oyster, if not, the chips just fall where they may for everyone no matter the occupation.

[Jeapugrad]

After seeing some of the obvious bad calls in MLB the last few days, I cannot help but think that maybe the system MLB uses to select umpires is flawed. The only way you can get on the field in pro ball is to go through one of the two umpire schools that currently exist. Right now, it's the Evans School and the Wendelstadt school. These schools can be prohibitively expensive for talented young umpires so I know that there are some great umpires all over the country who never get a shot because they can't afford the cost or the time required to attend the schools. Don't get me wrong, these schools should be used to pick umpires. But they shouldn't be the only pathway to the pro ball. The schools do a great job of teaching proffessional umpires who work amateur ball. Why not scout for umpire talent the way that they scout for player talent? I know why. Baseball doesn't want to spend the money to find the best talent. They just don't value or respect umpires as much as they should. Right now, I am mentoring an 18 year old kid and he is getting better and better with each week. I told him he should consider attending one of the schools, but he said he just can't afford it. What do you guys think of the current system, and do you think that MLB is finding the best umpires out there?

Have you attended either five week program?