“It’s a big step,” World coach and former Cub player Ferguson Jenkins said. “It change[s] your life. You could… [be] able to play with guys that you’ve looked up to and thought you could never play with. Now all of a sudden, you are on the same stage as them. This game is putting them on [that] stage earlier.”
They know it’s a stepping stone and it’s just a matter of going out there and playing hard,” said the Mets 11-time Major League All-Star and United States manager Gary Carter.
“I am in awe,” former Chicago White Sox star and minor league manager Razor Shines said. “You see a lot of things that you don’t see at the minor league level. You can tell a lot of kids that are on the Low-A ball level are going to blossom into major league players.”
Shines said that today’s player is advanced and understands the opportunity presented to him.
“I don’t think you have to do or tell them how big of an opportunity this is. They just know.”
While the Futures Game is a big plus for Major League Baseball, it presents a huge headache for the affiliated minor leagues. Their showcases now routinely take a hit when players won’t play in both the MLB event and the minor league showcase that once used to be their stepping stone to success.
“I think I was apprehensive at first about playing in both games,” Chicago White Sox prospect and Charlotte Knights stand-out Josh Fields said. “I am worried about how I am going to get back into the season,” Fields said.
“You can’t pass this up. It’s such a great honor, so I am just going to go out there and do it.”
Houston Astros prospect Jason Hirsch opted to play in both the All-Star Futures Game and the Triple-A All-Star Game.
“After talking to my manager and my pitching coach, we decided it was just like throwing two innings out of the bullpen, so we decided to do it,” Hirsch said.
Still, the game has its costs to the minors.
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