Farm team
A developmental team that trains players for a parent club.
In sports, a farm team—also called a farm system, developmental system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club—is a team that trains and gives experience to young players. These players can later move up to a higher level, usually with a major-league parent team, under a formal or informal agreement. This is different from a practice squad, where players are part of the parent team itself.
In baseball, Minor League Baseball teams in the U.S. and Canada operate under strict contracts with their major-league counterparts. Most minor-league teams are privately owned and can switch affiliations, but players under contract with the MLB club are under that club’s exclusive control and would move with it to a new affiliate. Not every player on a minor-league team is under MLB contract, but the parent club has the exclusive right to buy the contract of a non-contract player at its affiliate. Minor-league teams are usually based in smaller cities, and players contracted to them—unlike major-leaguers sent down for rehab or development—are typically paid much less than MLB players.
Most major-league players start in the minor leagues and work up from the rookie level to Triple-A. Rare exceptions include players signed from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and, since the bonus rule ended, only a few amateurs have jumped directly to MLB, such as John Olerud, Jim Abbott, and Dave Winfield. This process is formally called “player development,” but minor-league affiliates are often called “farm teams,” and being sent back to the minors is sometimes called being “farmed out.”
The modern farm system was invented by Branch Rickey. As field manager, general manager, and club president, he helped build the St. Louis Cardinals dynasty in the 1920s–1940s. When Rickey joined the Cardinals in 1917, teams bought players from independent high-level minor-league clubs. Frustrated when players he had agreed to purchase were instead sold to richer rivals, Rickey, with owner Sam Breadon’s support, planned for St. Louis to buy and control its own minor-league teams from Class D to Class AA. This let the Cardinals promote or demote players as they developed. The pipeline started at tryout camps across the U.S. “From quantity comes quality,” Rickey said.
- Invented by
- Branch Rickey
- First used by
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Period of initial success
- 1920s–1940s
- Number of affiliated minor league teams
- 4
- Highest minor league classification in b
- AAA
- Lowest minor league classification in ba
- Rookie
- Nhl farm league
- American Hockey League (AHL)
Lore & Background
The farm system as it is recognized today was invented by Branch Rickey, who helped build the St. Louis Cardinals dynasty during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. When Rickey joined the Cardinals in 1917, players were commonly purchased by major league teams from independent, high-level minor league clubs. Rickey became frustrated when players he had agreed to purchase were instead sold to wealthier rivals. With the support of Cardinal owner Sam Breadon, Rickey devised a plan whereby St. Louis would buy and control its own minor league teams from Class D to Class AA, allowing them to promote or demote players as they developed. The talent pipeline began at tryout camps that St. Louis scouts conducted throughout the U.S. During the 1930s, with as many as 40 owned or affiliated farm teams, the Cardinals controlled the destinies of hundreds of players each year. The Cardinals won nine National League pennants and six World Series championships between 1926 and 1946, proving the effectiveness of the farm system concept. The second club to fully embrace such a system, the New York Yankees, used it to sustain their dynasty from the mid-1930s through the middle of the 1960s. When Rickey moved to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, he built a hugely successful farm system there as well after World War II. Teams that ignored the farm system in the 1930s and early 1940s found themselves falling on hard times.
Reader's Guide
The farm system remains a strong component of a winning baseball strategy, despite the advent of free agency in 1976 which led many to predict its demise. Under the current minor league system, each of the thirty major league teams has four affiliated minor league teams. Most major league players start their careers by working up the minor league system from the lowest (rookie) to the highest (AAA) classification, with rare exceptions usually being players signed from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. The process of a player working up through the minors is formally referred to as 'player development,' while minor league affiliates are often informally called 'farm teams' and a major league player being sent back to the minors is sometimes described as being 'farmed out.' In ice hockey, NHL teams have their own farm teams in the American Hockey League (AHL) and also affiliates in the ECHL. Unlike baseball, not all players on minor league rosters are owned by an NHL team; the AHL system recognizes two-way contracts and standard contracts. In association football, internal feeder teams exist as age-restricted teams or reserve sides, and it is also common for clubs to arrange formal deals with other clubs as feeder/parent club connections, allowing the smaller teams to provide young talents and the parent club to send young players on loan.
Did You Know?
- The farm system was invented by Branch Rickey while with the St. Louis Cardinals.
- The New York Yankees were the second club to fully embrace the farm system.
- In ice hockey, the Cleveland Monsters are the farm team for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
- The existence of the minor league system is due in part to MLB's reserve clause and a 1922 Supreme Court decision granting baseball immunity from antitrust laws.
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