The Youth of the MLB Continues to Shine While the NBA Struggles to Figure it Out

If you pay attention to any sports-related news outlet, you've surely heard the name Trevor Story by now. The Colorado Rockies rookie has wasted no time in making a name for himself this past week as he's already belted seven home runs in his first six major league games, including one in each of his first four games. The season is only eight days old, yet Story already has his batting gloves and helmet displayed in Cooperstown at the Hall of Fame. And while Story's week is certainly one for the record books, his instant success is further proof that the MLB has more than enough young superstars on the rise.

Story has become a household name very early in the season

You hear the argument in college basketball and the NBA about college athletes being "one and done" meaning they attend school for their freshman season then declare for the NBA draft immediately following the conclusion of the season. It's become a trend and it has become an issue not only for the NCAA and its universities, but also for the NBA. The league is watered down with these kids that have no business leaving after one year of college and it's also killing the college game. Kids don't hang around, they treat college as if it's a one-year sentence and then chase the money that very few of them actually end up getting long-term.

Don't get me wrong, every now and then you get a Kevin Durant, a John Wall, or an Anthony Davis who become All-Stars and some of the best in the league. But for every Kevin Durant there's a Greg Oden, for every John Wall there's an Anthony Bennett, and for every Anthony Davis there's a Michael Beasley. The young guys that come into the NBA rarely have any staying power and if they do, they don't make the impact that they were projected to. What's worse is that once these young guys get cut from the NBA they have nowhere to go in order to truly improve and work for another shot at playing professionally. The D-League does absolutely nothing for the players and rarely if ever do we see players get called up to the pros. I understand that there aren't as many players on an NBA roster as there are in the MLB, but the NBA and NCAA don't give the younger players who could have potential any help. They're cheating them by allowing them to leave after one year and they're cheating them by allowing them to rot in the D-League after they're cut from the NBA.

Bennett, once a number 1 pick, averaged 4 minutes in 19 games this season

This is where the MLB has made all the right moves. Trevor Story has already been mentioned, but before Story even came to the league there were guys like Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Kris Bryant,  Manny Machado, and Giancarlo Stanton. These players have already reached a high level in the MLB and have had more than enough individual success in their very young careers. But what sets these young stars apart from the young stars in the NBA?


The difference is that the MLB's minor league system is set up with more intention of teaching and allowing adjustment to the professional game than the NBA. In the NBA, you are drafted straight to the pros. You play in the summer league and that's all well and good, but there's no way to adjust to the physicality or speed of the NBA when you're playing other guys your age who are also just coming off their college experience. In the MLB there are three levels of play you could possibly go through before you even set foot in an MLB ballpark. Even Bryce Harper, as successful as he has been, spent time in the minors after he was drafted. There is no rush for players who are drafted into the MLB and rarely if ever are they drafted straight to the professional level. The ball clubs draft their players and then send them through the minor league system so that they learn from multiple coaching staffs and get plenty of higher level experience before being called up to "The Show".

That's what makes the MLB's young stars so exciting. It's the excitement of watching a player grow through AA and AAA ball before they get called up. Being a Cubs fan, I can't tell you how many conversations I've had these past couple years that have involved the sentence "Have you seen how so-and-so is doing in AAA?" Guys like the aforementioned Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, and Jorge Soler have all made a big impact on the Cubs at some point in time because they were ready for the challenge when they got called up. They weren't treated like the one-and-dones from the NCAA in that they weren't thrown into the fire at age 18. And because of that we see far more success stories in the MLB than we ever will in the NBA.

With the embarrassing way the NCAA handles itself and its business combined with a watered down NBA, there's no fix to the problem coming anytime soon. Players who have no business leaving after one year will still leave and the majority won't even be heard from two or three years from now. That's really sad, especially when you're able to look at how many young stars there are in the MLB who haven't even turned 25 yet. The overall excitement over baseball will most likely never trump that of basketball, but it's no secret that the MLB gives fans more to look forward to in the way they foster the young talent. Players are given a chance to succeed in the MLB and if they don't pan out immediately, they're sent right back down the minors where they can figure things out and gain more experience. The NBA doesn't look out for the young players and because of that the league will continue to struggle to find consistent, productive draft classes.