Minor League Internships

DISCLAIMER: This is just what I have seen from my own organization, and what friends have told me about their minor league internships. It by no way extends to all teams. It is all my opinion and has no facts to back it up.

So you landed an internship with a minor league team. Awesome! Now here is the catch. You have basically become an errand boy for the team - doing the tasks that those above you don't want to do. Answering phones, stuffing envelopes, and doing the most mundane tasks. Many hours of the day you will not be doing much. You won't really be learning skills needed to advance you in the organization. You may think you are, but it seems to be pretty rare that those in that type of position actually get to be hired full time by the organization after the internship. Many minor league internships seem to be very generalized and doesn't give you the necessary experience to become a full time staff member.

You think it will get better with the season? Think again. You will be pulling tarp (all of us full time staff pull tarp as well mind you), and once again filling the roles that nobody else wanted to fill.

Also, the pay is miserable. Many Minor League Baseball jobs are unpaid. UNPAID. You are PAYING to do these tasks with all the gas money and long hours you will be putting into the job. Even those that are paid are not enough to live off of. Jobs like this are the reason that a minimum wage was created, but teams are getting away with it by calling it a stipend instead of paying hourly.

Now, not every internship is like this. I would suggest making sure that you are getting a specific internship which will give you experience in one aspect of baseball. Experience is key and is really what teams are looking for. As good as it is to learn about all different aspects, in the end you want to gain a specific skillset that will impress your team. You don't need to learn everything, but learn the basics so that when you are looking to be hired full time they know that they don't have to start from the beginning with you.

Finally, I suggest finding a smaller team that needs more help from you. Getting more responsibility will help tremendously in advancing your career in baseball.

Not all minor league baseball internships are bad. I do know people that have been hired full time, however I do also know a lot of people that are left afterwards with that what now feeling.

Thanks for reading this post! Spring training has begun, and minor league baseball players will start reporting very shortly! Winter is finally over.

Jane Doe