More than 100 MLB players ranked the best and worst organizations: Inside our anonymous poll

When we at The Athletic began interviewing ballplayers in February about the reputations of major-league clubs, the Colorado Rockies were coming off a season in which they compiled the worst run differential since the 19th century. The Chicago White Sox were coming off a third consecutive 100-loss campaign. The Pittsburgh Pirates had gone a full decade without tasting the playoffs. The Athletics were bracing for another season in a minor-league ballpark.

Some four months later, each of these teams is experiencing a level of optimism typically reserved for spring training. The White Sox have been the surprise leaders of the American League Central. The A’s have a 23-year-old MVP candidate in Nick Kurtz who can hit the ball out of any building. The Pirates have the majors’ hardest-throwing pitching staff and a top-five offense. The Rockies remain in last place, but under a new regime, they offer reasons for hope.

And it’s still early. Half a season is not enough to erase certain longstanding perceptions. As part of our annual player poll, we wanted to know: Which organizations have good reputations among uniformed personnel? Which organizations have bad reputations? Players were allowed to offer multiple responses to each prompt and were granted anonymity in order to speak candidly.

Let’s start with the results of the latter question, which was posed to just over 100 players from 23 teams across the league.

Some quotes have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Unsurprisingly, fewer of the players we polled were eager to answer this prompt.

One American League pitcher answered this question with a question. It sounded rhetorical.

“Which,” he said, “are the ones that are cheap as f—?”

On Opening Day, each of the aforementioned teams had one of the majors’ 10 lowest payrolls. Given their lack of on-field success, it came as no surprise that those four clubs were viewed as organizations with poor reputations. The Rockies, on the heels of a historically awful season, received the most mentions with 28. They were followed, in order, by the Pirates, A’s, White Sox and Los Angeles Angels, who continue to have a decent-sized payroll but seemingly little direction.

“They have no idea how to make anyone better at anything,” another pitcher said of the Angels. “And that’s from guys who worked there. They have no idea what’s going on.”

For years, many have said the same of the Rockies. Now, first-year president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta is tackling baseball’s most unique challenge with the aid of first-year general manager Josh Byrnes, an alum of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ front office. The difficulty level at altitude is as high as ever. But the bar, in Denver, is low.

“Colorado has been bad for a long time, but it sounds like they might be improving now with some new people,” an AL hitter said.

In their own words

On the Rockies

“Behind on everything analytically. I’ve seen the way they do their business as a whole, and they make a lot of decisions where I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’”

“For a while — I would say for a good 10 years — they didn’t have the resources in place to help players stay in the big leagues. It was kind of, ‘OK, you’re here. If you produce, you can stay. If not, next guy up.’ You have to have some type of resource for the players to help them get through their struggles, because you end up weeding out good players.”

“I think they scout and draft well, but development-wise, there’s no R&D. You’re trying to figure it out on your own. Some help would be nice. Charlie Blackmon was completely self-made.”

“Colorado is just somewhere pitchers don’t want to be.”

On the Pirates

“They just don’t want to spend money on anything. It’s like fighting tooth and nail to get equipment, get treatment stuff.”

“They’re spending a little bit of money now, but still going to say the Pirates.”

“Ownership.”

“The fans are there. But building an organization, a team that is ready to compete, to win, you know?“

On the Athletics

“They’re playing in a minor-league stadium with awful amenities. I think they’re building a good team, but I think it’ll be hard to add top talent until they get to Vegas.”

“The in-between it’s at right now.”

“That’s a dumb way to not invest $60,000 a year on, like, childcare at the field. People won’t even consider going there because they’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to subject my wife and kids to not liking it. They don’t treat them well.”

On the White Sox

“From teammates who’ve played there, they’re like, ‘The video room is one laptop in a closet.’ They’re just behind on that stuff.”

“Love Will (Venable). It’s not a bad reputation for the manager. It’s a bad reputation from the top. Refusing to spend but also refusing to, like, care for families and players, to do the little things right.”

“They fail a lot of players.”

On the Angels

“Winning isn’t even a top-five priority.”

“There’s not a lot of pitching development happening with the Angels.”

“The way they handle their minor leagues is weird. You get optioned out of the big leagues and sent to A ball.”

“They have no idea how to make anyone better at anything. And that’s from guys who worked there. They have no idea what’s going on.”

On the Marlins

“I say Miami because I’m from there. They don’t have any fans go to games because they’re always getting rid of players. You watch the World Baseball Classic and that stadium gets packed. There are so many baseball fans in South Florida. I want them to be good.”

“They don’t spend.”

On the Rays

“The analytics department and all that stuff, it’s kind of like going away a little bit from like … recruiting and signing players.”

“They have a terrible reputation for keeping and spending.”

Let’s re-consult the pitcher who weighed in earlier in a colorful way: Which clubs are considered in good standing among big leaguers?

“The ones that are not cheap as f—,” the hurler said.

Amid what is expected to be a protracted labor fight, that about sums it up. The five teams that received the most endorsements from respondents all fielded top-eight payrolls on Opening Day. The Dodgers, with back-to-back World Series titles and a luxury-tax payroll north of $400 million, were mentioned by nearly two-thirds of the players we surveyed. The New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves also polled particularly well.

We heard another consistent theme. More than a third of respondents stated that the way organizations treat players’ families was a separating factor.

“They tend to be the big-market teams that have a bunch of money to throw at family stuff,” said an American League player. “That’s what matters to a lot of us with kiddos and families, for sure.”

“I’ve been around players that have walked from other organizations because certain criteria weren’t met off the baseball field,” said one National Leaguer.

Aside from recent on-field success, this helps explain why the Milwaukee Brewers got more votes than any other small-market club.

“The Brewers are a surprising one, but they have really good reports coming out of there,” another player said. “They seem to do a good job taking care of their players and their families, keeping everybody really happy.”

In their own words

On the Dodgers

“L.A. outspends everyone, but also does smarter stuff, too.”

“The Dodgers now have two flights that go everywhere. … Having a flight that’s just players is kind of fun.”

“They develop the best. They trade away all of their prospects, and then they’re always a top-10 prospect organization. There’s a reason for it.”

“The term ‘Dodgers reclamation project’ comes around a lot. Guys that are struggling, you go there and figure something out.”

“Everybody’s been talking about how they really create good relationships with players on and off the field.”

On the Yankees

“I think it comes down to the players feeling like the owner and the front office have their backs and they’re willing to do what they need to do to keep their players happy.”

“I rehabbed with the Yankees in the minors, and they treated me amazingly.”

“They’ll do anything to win.”

“They try to be a class organization.”

On the Cubs

“Everybody I’ve talked to raves about them. … They say they’re very professional, they treat the players and the families the right way. And obviously, Wrigley is Wrigley.”

“I just hear a lot about the way they treat families, the things that go on behind the scenes, the things that don’t go on on the field, how those all operate, and it seems like it’s super player-first.”

“I heard the resources they have in the clubhouse and with the families and all that, it’s just top-notch. They try to take care of their players, big-time.”

“They handle personalities really well.”

“The vibes there I see are very fun. People have a very good time over there.”

On the Blue Jays

“The facilities in Toronto are crazy good. For me, where I’ve played … there’s nowhere close to Toronto when it comes to that.”

“Their clubhouse has every bell and whistle. I heard travel for them is good, especially considering you have to cross national borders. And they do a lot to make sure their guys get paid.”

“I’ve been impressed with what they’re doing. They clearly want to win. Their facilities are great. And it seems like they have a good culture.”

“I’ve heard nothing but great things about Toronto.”

On the Braves

“From the top, it’s been run pretty well for the last couple of decades. It always starts at the top with the manager and front office.”

“It’s mostly just because of how they treat families. I think that’s important to a lot of guys. It’s pretty important how your wife and kids are treated within the organization, too.”

“The Braves care about every single player in their organization.”

“Everyone there is a pro. I grew up a Braves fan and you can see them as one of the old-school teams that treat veterans well.”