Director of Player Development: Culture and Expectations for Minor League system

[Laura Georgia]

In January of 2024, a week or so after being hired by Peter Bendix as the Marlins organization’s new director of player development, Rachel Balkovec took some time to Zoom in with Kyle Sielaff and Stephen Strom from the Marlins Radio Network.

I’d like to thank Mr. Sielaff for asking the question a lot of people may have skipped over: “You’re the director of player development–what does that mean? What do you do?”

And it's a fair question, as Balkovec points out the truth that yeah, not everyone always knows exactly how the business side of baseball functions (as she says, “even great baseball fans may not know the full extent of the minor league system”).

As one of those fans who specializes in being passionate about things like on-field gameplay and major leaguers, but admittedly gets in the weeds in understanding the business side of things, I appreciated the 12-minute conversation that really dug into how she was planning to approach her new role ahead of Spring Training. It’s worth a listen if you’d like to learn more about the role, and her blend of process/goal oriented approach from her first impressions her first week on the job.

However, I digress. Who is Balkovec, and what impact can we hope she’ll make on the organization?

Balkovec has taken a 12 year path to director of player development, and many of her roles seemed to have set her up to be a logical addition to Peter Bendix’s new front office. She has a very solid educational background. Forbes tells us, “She possesses a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science with two master’s degrees– in Sports Administration and Biomechanics.”--the latter being heavily research based.

© | rachelbalkovec.com

The grit and drive is all there, too, as she emptied her savings to go abroad to get her master’s in biomechanics prior to her internship at Driveline Baseball (one of 6 internships she completed in her career). There was a rumor, eventually confirmed by Balkovec during a press conference, that she did in fact have to dumpster dive for a mattress to sleep on while in school in the Netherlands. Presumably because of the aforementioned draining of her finances to take the opportunity for her second masters. Talk about dedication to the craft.

All of that built her analytical acumen necessary to develop players, which is in addition to her coaching career. On top of coaching experience from the Cardinals organization to the Arizona fall league, the Astros, Yankees and internationally in Australia among other organizations, she comes with the insight of managing a minor league club to a record of 61-69 in her rookie year. This should set her up to effectively help “coach the coaches”, as she put it to Sielaff and Strom.

Overall in Miami, she sees an opportunity for the whole front office staff to make their mark right out of the gate:

“What’s really incredible and unique about this situation is having Gabe [Kepler] come in, myself–there’s a lot of us kind of starting fresh and new. And that can be a big advantage, at times, where there’s no preconceived notions about ‘what it has been before’ or ‘what baseball has done before’. It’s all kind of a really blank slate for us personally, of kind of getting a fresh perspective on what’s going on inside the organization and where it could possibly go.”

Maybe it's my optimism coming in from the 2023 season at the MLB level, or the fact that Balkovec was managing as recently as last year for the Yankees (Tampa Tarpons, single-A), but it brings to mind the thinking behind the Skip Schumaker hiring. Fresh mindset, new role, qualified and creative baseball minds.

Taking a wide angle view of the organization, one thing that was talked about almost ad nauseam last year was culture. The culture in the clubhouse, a new Marlins culture of winning and the mindset of success at every level. Even the culture of sports in Miami as a whole was a hot topic in 2023. Since this was a huge component of organizational success last year, what insight do we have on how Balkovec in particular thinks about creating culture in baseball?

She was asked about building clubhouse culture on opening day of 2023, her first as a team manager, Balkovec had this to say:

“The music is loud, and that’s how we want it. The energy is high…it's an environment where we’re having fun, and we talked about [this] in the first meeting. ‘Having fun’ is all relative–in my mind, winning is fun. And having success is fun. If we can also say we wanna relax and have fun, but we also want to push and compete…that’s kind of the culture that’s already been set. I’m fortunate I’m not the only one setting that.”

There’s obviously more to baseball operation and building on success than just culture, and that’s where player development comes in. With around 350 players under the purview of player development within the Marlins organizational structure, all of whom have the goal of getting the the big league ballclub, Balkovec plans to blend process and goal oriented thinking to enhance every opportunity each individual player can go after.

“Focusing on what I can control in the moment and what I can control in the smaller goals has always been really productive for myself personally, but also in general with research and understanding how humans function.

For example with a player– ‘Hey, 16 year old Latin American player, your goal is to make it in the big leagues!’ That can be 7 years from now. That can get really easily lost and forgotten about, and you can lose motivation. But, if I give you a small goal, right now, to accomplish that’s a part of that process, then you’re going to be much more likely to see that right in front of your face and to really push for it.”

The organization had to make late hires in winter, including Balkovec. Once the dust settled just before pitchers and catchers began, it had something of the feel of letting in some fresh air after a stuffy, uncomfortable winter. Ten days ago, Sports Illustrated reported on 2 new hire minor league coordinators from Bendix, Balkovec and director of Minor League operations Hector Crespo. The work of building and adjusting the structure and personnel of the minor league system has begun. Others outside of Miami seem to be starting to recognize that things have changed for the better for the fish, that there’s a possible big-picture upswing on the rise. Balkovec as director of player development is one strong hire within the front office. The move should prove to have been a smart one for the Marlins and allow the front office to have an extra edge because of it, both on the field and behind the scenes.

This week, Balkovec spent time with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and took a few minutes to hop on the radio broadcast during a home game. Two questions came up, first--what have you liked about your first month at the helm of this minor league department?

“We’re taking a really aggressive approach to making sure that we can be one of the best communicating organizations in baseball. There’s a lot to be excited about. Overall philosophy about being aggressive to give guys opportunities to show what they can do at higher levels."

Forecasting ahead is a key component of having a broad view of the big picture of player development. Balkovec brings that to bear in remarking on the intentionality behind her role. "we’re all very focused on using our minor league system moving forward and making sure that player development is at front of mind for us."

At the end of the day, however, there's a clear endgame to player development across the board in the MLB, and Balkovec doesn't see it any differently than one would expect. How would she mark a successful first year at the helm of this player development department?

“I would say at the end of this year is a really short timeline to make huge progress–shifting a minor league system is like moving the Titanic…success for this season would be markers of success for each individual player…staying really process oriented for this year, and for years to come, but[...]in three or four years it’s going to be how productive our minor league system is at developing major league players.”

Balkovec has earned the respect of the baseball organizations she’s worked in and the players she’s worked with, or else she wouldn’t continue to evolve upwards in baseball. Here’s to the future of the Marlins organization, with leadership at all levels with fresh perspectives and creative grit determined to continue giving fans the heart and hustle we expect out of a quality major league organization.

Side note: Balkovec is bilingual, which is sure to be a help, especially thinking of things like the stronger player development presence the Marlins now have in the Dominican Republic. MLB.com reporter Dawn Klemish mentioned a sidebar during a press conference, “I talked to Aaron Boone and Nick Swisher and they said, ‘Man, you should hear her yell at somebody in Spanish!’-- they were so impressed!”

View full article

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

Good read here and we certainly need Balkovec to succeed as an integral part of the new team. I hope she kills it and obtains solid rewards for doing so. I like the "blank slate" and fresh ideas environment she mentions. I'm fine with the "have fun and relax" cultural milieu, but that better be watermarked, not at the forefront. These are professionals with the highest casualty rate, necessitating competency, work ethic, coachability, and, frankly, overachievement if one wants to stay in the mix for long. The "everyone is told" admonition from "Moneyball" is as ruthless as it is ineluctable. So, the unconventional blank slate appeals to me, but it must be juxtaposed with the reality of MLB. Bendix, Balkovec, et al., deserve a fair chance, realizing that they are starting in a hole, but they will own the results, make no mistake about that. So, I am all in with the new regime because that wager has already been placed.