[Climbing that hierarchy of minor leagues to make it to the show is one of the most incredibly hard things a guy could do in this country.]
Yep, you could be the greatest player in the world in the minors and it still comes down to the subjective judgment of someone else to send you upstairs.
” ... you could be the greatest player in the world in the minors and it still comes down to the subjective judgment of someone else to send you upstairs.”
I think the point that I would make, and others have made, is that professional baseball is a very competitive, largely objective, meritocracy. If some director of player personnel decides, subjectively, that you are not major league material and, objectively, he’s wrong, then you are most likely going to be given another shot by some organization. There aren’t too many guys sitting at home who could play in the majors but who aren’t (druggies and complete head cases excepted, of course).