Major League Baseball holds a Rookie Career Development Program in Washington DC every year for players who are either on the verge of breaking into the majors, or got a late call-up during the previous season. This year, the Pirates submitted four names for the program, though Keon Broxton was on the list before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers. The other three players are top ten prospects in the system, Elias Diaz, Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell.
You might expect Jameson Taillon to be there, but he already went through the program in 2014. Last year, Nick Kingham attended and Alen Hanson was scheduled to, but had to cancel at the last minute.
The program is set up to help players deal with everyday life in the majors, from finances to travel to the extra media attention, and anything else they may have questions about. It gives them a chance to ask those questions to executives, media members and even former Major League players. Many players over the years who broke into the majors in September, then attended the program the following January, have said that going through the program before getting called up would have been very beneficial. It’s a four-day event, which begins this Thursday.
