MLB Umpire Camps

[dumbdumb]

good luck to those going to nashville this weekend.

remember - you cannot win if you do not enter

At the beginning of your 6th year a call up in March with a 123 game schedule, and then on to FT after 3 years as a call-up.

https://www.mlb.com/official-information/umpires/camps?msockid=072dcb685eb36b630f2adceb5f7c6aa3

[The Man in Blue]

I still find it peculiar that starting the whole process hinges on four 1/2 day camps (that are open for everybody, not just those looking to break through) in just four cities each year.

[JonnyCat]

On 6/26/2026 at 11:43 AM, The Man in Blue said:

I still find it peculiar that starting the whole process hinges on four 1/2 day camps (that are open for everybody, not just those looking to break through) in just four cities each year.

Yeah, me too.

Under the old system prospective umpires had to make an effort to attend the schools. It showed a certain level of commitment, and you had 4-5 weeks to show off your skills. Now, I'm wondering if you may have students that do well in the short time frame, but may not have the mettle for the actual school. The camps are basically picking the students with little evaluation time.

I guess time will tell if the new system works in the long run.

[Velho]

I was going to go to a default reply but am struggling to see how killing off the schools saves MLB money. If it's not, then it's about control.

 

 

[BLWizzRanger]

3 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

Yeah, me too.

Under the old system prospective umpires had to make an effort to attend the schools. It showed a certain level of commitment, and you had 4-5 weeks to show off your skills. Now, I'm wondering if you may have students that do well in the short time frame, but may not have the mettle for the actual school. The camps are basically picking the students with little evaluation time.

I guess time will tell if the new system works in the long run.

But, spending years in the minor leagues will give them enough evaluations.

[JonnyCat]

19 minutes ago, BLWizzRanger said:

But, spending years in the minor leagues will give them enough evaluations.

I was talking about how little time they spend picking who gets to attend school. How many of the prospective attendees of the MLB camps are serious about attending pro school? If it's all of them, then the system has a better chance of working. But if not, then the chances are lower. TMIB pointed out that it's probably not just prospects that attend the camps. And you never know who is going to attend the one day camps. You may only have a small group of qualified prospects to chose from. I just think they are limiting their choices with this new system.

Under the old system of paying your own way, there was already a limited pool of attendees. When I attended Wendelstedt in 2013, there was only about 160 students, and at MiLB school in 2015, there was only 88. It seems like the new system even further limits that pool. To be sure, under the old system, especially at my time at Wendelstedt, many of the students were there to learn and not necessarily want a job in MiLB. At TUS, most of the students wanted a job, but probably about 25% did not. These are just my observations and a small sample size.

I get that MLB wants to now only train people that may become MiLB umpires, and maybe they feel their new method is better to realize that goal. IMO, it's shrinking the pool even further of qualified and motivated potential umpires.

[JSam21]

On 6/28/2026 at 10:05 AM, JonnyCat said:

Yeah, me too.

Under the old system prospective umpires had to make an effort to attend the schools. It showed a certain level of commitment, and you had 4-5 weeks to show off your skills. Now, I'm wondering if you may have students that do well in the short time frame, but may not have the mettle for the actual school. The camps are basically picking the students with little evaluation time.

I guess time will tell if the new system works in the long run.

They go to school still. It isn't like they are going from a half day camp directly into MiLB. It isn't like they got to choose who when to school before. 

 

[Velho]

2 hours ago, JSam21 said:

They go to school still.

What school? Seems MLB has a 4 week that is invite only (primarily if not solely fed by their camps). Are there any non-MLB multi week schools still operating?

[JSam21]

3 hours ago, Velho said:

What school? Seems MLB has a 4 week that is invite only (primarily if not solely fed by their camps). Are there any non-MLB multi week schools still operating?

That is the school they go to. It was being made to sound like, you go to the 1/2 day camp then straight to MiLB. You still have to be near the top of the class to get a job. Yes it is invite only... Just like it always has been to get a job in MiLB. 

You would go to Evans, Harry's, etc... but then you would get invited to PBUC which is now the MLB Umpire Academy. They just brought it all in house to control everything. The "free" model gets people who may not be able to afford it to go. 

[Velho]

3 minutes ago, JSam21 said:

It was being made to sound like, you go to the 1/2 day camp then straight to MiLB. You still have to be near the top of the class to get a job. Yes it is invite only... Just like it always has been to get a job in MiLB. 

Got ya.

I see a problem same as @JonnyCat & @The Man in Blue, a 1/2 day camp to decide who gets to move on is a very small sample size. When hiring you want the largest funnel possible. Plus candidates with skin in the game is valuable. They've severely shrunk that by not coexisting with the schools. This will also ripple to impact NCAA umpiring. It will be something to watch for how it plays out.

[JSam21]

3 minutes ago, Velho said:

Got ya.

I see a problem same as @JonnyCat & @The Man in Blue, a 1/2 day camp to decide who gets to move on is a very small sample size. When hiring you want the largest funnel possible. Plus candidates with skin in the game is valuable. They've severely shrunk that by not coexisting with the schools. This will also ripple to impact NCAA umpiring. It will be something to watch for how it plays out.

They want people that look good in the uniform, are young, athletic... the feeling is they can teach people to umpire the way they want people to umpire. 

How will this impact college baseball? Outside of people being released going straight into D1 conferences? 

[Velho]

45 minutes ago, JSam21 said:

How will this impact college baseball? Outside of people being released going straight into D1 conferences? 

It's my understanding that a significant number of D1 (if not D2, D3) umpires are umpire school graduates that didn't work MiLB.

If the above is true (or if it's even only 10%), seems to me that with MLB being the sole umpire school the NCAA will have to expand their entry requirement since the only graduate pool will be MiLB releases or MLB school washouts.

[The Man in Blue]

On 7/1/2026 at 2:46 PM, Velho said:

Got ya.

I see a problem same as @JonnyCat & @The Man in Blue, a 1/2 day camp to decide who gets to move on is a very small sample size. When hiring you want the largest funnel possible. Plus candidates with skin in the game is valuable. They've severely shrunk that by not coexisting with the schools. This will also ripple to impact NCAA umpiring. It will be something to watch for how it plays out.

 

That was my point.  It isn't that the process has changed, it's that you went from casting a large net to dipping a dixie cup in the water while you are looking for who you want to put in the pipeline.  OK, well, maybe it wasn't a large net to start with, but it was bigger.

[Marcus6]

Saw an interview with Michael Hill and he said not bringing it in house would eliminate some potential candidates who didn’t have the $$ to attend pro school - this MLB “takeover” helps eliminate that and provide for greater access. 

[dumbdumb]

in a way, it is just doing like those old tryout camps for players years ago. they would come to your area and you would just show up and tryout with a bunch of other players, no money involved, since you did not have any money anyway. they may have some camps like that still, but probably not many. it gives a person on the wrong side of the financial tracks a chance, even if that chance is a small one.

[JonnyCat]

On 7/1/2026 at 7:09 AM, JSam21 said:

They go to school still. It isn't like they are going from a half day camp directly into MiLB. It isn't like they got to choose who when to school before. 

 

I totally agree with you, but that's not what I was talking about. I was merely responding to the process of how umpires are chosen to attend camp. It used to be open to everyone, but now that avenue is significantly reduced, IMO. 

Under the old system, you could pay your own way to one of the schools, and then have 4-5 weeks of showing off your skills, or refining them to suit what MiLB wanted. Then you were either selected to move on to the advanced evaluation course, or sent home.

Under the new system, you get a half a day chance to hope you're chosen to attend school. It doesn't seem to me like that increases the available pool of prospective umpires. But I could be wrong.

[JonnyCat]

9 hours ago, Marcus6 said:

Saw an interview with Michael Hill and he said not bringing it in house would eliminate some potential candidates who didn’t have the $$ to attend pro school - this MLB “takeover” helps eliminate that and provide for greater access. 

I understand the argument behind financial access, but that's a pretty flimsy one IMO. You still have to make it to one of the MLB camps which are located in various parts of the country. You still have to make a financial commitment to attend if you live far away.

Making an effort to pay and attend pro school shows a level of commitment and determination to attend. I'm not into free lunches and could care less if someone can afford umpire school or not. If you can't scrape up the $3000.00 or so to attend, I'm not sure you're even in a position to attend pro school, or make the 10 year or so commitment in the minor leagues to become an MLB umpire.

And what about those that want to attend for just the training and not wanting a job in MiLB? You just shut out a bunch of people wanting to improve their skills by not allowing these types of students, and by effectively shutting down the other schools, i.e. Wendelstedt and Evans. What about the increased number of students and competition available to compete for the advanced course? MiLB just shrunk that pool.

Not exactly the right way to provide increased "access" to pro school, IMO.

 

 

 

[Velho]

9 hours ago, Marcus6 said:

Saw an interview with Michael Hill and he said not bringing it in house would eliminate some potential candidates who didn’t have the $$ to attend pro school - this MLB “takeover” helps eliminate that and provide for greater access. 

Thanks for sharing that. 

No reason MLB couldn't have added the camps & their own advanced school while continuing to take candidates from the other schools. That would have retained the largest possible pool while addressing the financial access issue (and doing a lot more MLB camps would help that too so it rings a bit hollow imo).

Not to mention, as JonnyCat said, the baseball community was better off for having the schools. Feels possibly spiteful and controlling by MLB.

[Marcus6]

2 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

I understand the argument behind financial access, but that's a pretty flimsy one IMO. You still have to make it to one of the MLB camps which are located in various parts of the country. You still have to make a financial commitment to attend if you live far away.

Making an effort to pay and attend pro school shows a level of commitment and determination to attend. I'm not into free lunches and could care less if someone can afford umpire school or not. If you can't scrape up the $3000.00 or so to attend, I'm not sure you're even in a position to attend pro school, or make the 10 year or so commitment in the minor leagues to become an MLB umpire.

And what about those that want to attend for just the training and not wanting a job in MiLB? You just shut out a bunch of people wanting to improve their skills by not allowing these types of students, and by effectively shutting down the other schools, i.e. Wendelstedt and Evans. What about the increased number of students and competition available to compete for the advanced course? MiLB just shrunk that pool.

Not exactly the right way to provide increased "access" to pro school, IMO.

 

 

 

Dont disagree it’s obviously a takeover/control move by MLB