Sportsnet baseball writer Shi Davidi has quickly emerged as one of the best young writers on the MLB beat. His writing is sharp and analytic, while painting multiples sides to subjects on his radar. In what has been a disastrous 2012 Blue Jay season, Davidi has been unfailing in his commentary, despite his employers’ close links to the club and the Rogers ownership team.
Davidi has outdone himself in his latest writing venture, taking a three-part journey (here, here and here) to discuss Travis Snider’s four and a half year odyssey through the Blue Jays system. Snider was a first round draft pick in 2007 and subsequently lit the minor leagues on fire; in 2008 alone, he ascended four ranks of minor league ball and made his debut with the Jays as a peach-faced 20 year old. Snider never stuck with the Jays and became the classic case of a world beating prospect that could never stick at the major league level. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates this July.
Davidi’s Snider articles have taken the baseball blogging community by storm; the articles provide a rare glimpse into the life of a young major league hopeful. What’s strange is the fact that Snider was as open and revealing as the article presents.
It’s rare to see a current player openly criticize management for their player handling. In short, the articles present Snider as a typical, young 20-something, stumbling through the perils of major league stardom,. He's ever-befuddled by the Jays back-and-forth treatment, while increasingly aware of his own faults through his promotions and demotions between Toronto and AAA Las Vegas. Snider continually reflects on the maturity or lack thereof he exhibited through his Blue Jay odyssey. He continually questions his abilities following organization decisions, disparages himself and his play, seeks avenues to greater daily satisfaction and wellbeing, and yet through this, is willing to rebuild his swing, deal with family tragedies and recover from an array of on and off-field injuries.
His reactions – immature as they may be, do not concern nor surprise me. They are typical of an early 20-something who, for the first time experienced a level of competition that befuddled his god-born natural abilities. What concerns me is the lack of support and general understanding from the Blue Jays brass. The articles leave the current Jays management relatively unscathed (Cito Gaston and Gene Tenace, notwithstanding).
This is an organization that has rebuilt itself as a player development powerhouse, a team unwilling to spend on the free agent market, as they double the size of their scouting department and minor league development system believing they can pump outa stream of elite prospects that can perform at the MLB level. If that's the case, how can the Blue Jays organization not have the oversight capabilities to support young players and in Snider’s case, provide him the prolonged opportunity to fail and subsequently adapt?
My read on the Blue Jays organization’s ability to recognize Snider’s development needs and respond accordingly could be wrong; his performance post-trade performance in Pittsburgh leaves no reason to think he can indeed perform at the MLB level. However, their four-year treatment of is a disappointment by all accounts (including their own). Their recent handling of Yunel Escobar’s eye-black incident seems to be another such case of an organization that cannot provide their various multi-talented players the necessary support they require to consistently thrive in MLB.
For a team sporting young talents including Brett Lawrie, Anthony Gose, Adieny Hechevarria, Henderson Alvarez and hosts more in the minor league system, Davidi’s article may be the canary in the coal mine to trigger re-evaluation of their player development model before any more blue chip prospects are passed further through the system with chance for further mishandling.