A: It’s For Developing Players by Teaching Them How to Win.

“Lajoie and Hoot Evers did it better than farm directors today. Yeah, I think so. I say that with no equivocation whatsoever.” -- Lance Parrish, former Tiger catcher and 1st-round pick

“When you’re developing players, you should always be developing in their mind; ‘What do I have to do to win?’” -- Pat Gillick, 3-time World Series Champion GM

The purpose of the farm system has been debated for more than 60 years. Most farm directors today will tell you it’s about developing players instead of winning.

Lajoie’s philosophy combined the two. The goal of the farm system was to produce winning major league players. The best way to produce winning major league players is to develop them through winning. In a sense, you try to have your cake and eat it, too.

If you have prospects and they’re winning, then you can’t ask for more. That’s exactly what the Detroit Tigers minor league teams did after Lajoie started flooding the system with talent as scouting director from 1974-1978.

The record is startling, at every level from top to bottom.

The rookie-level Bristol Tigers won the 1974 Appalachian League championship behind future major leaguers like Lance Parrish and Mark Fidrych. The High-A Lakeland Tigers won back-to-back Florida State League championships in 1976 and 1977 while developing future major leaguers like Lou Whitaker, Roger Weaver, Pat Underwood and Dave Tobik.

The AA Montgomery team won three Southern League championships in a row from 1975-1977. Alan Trammell was a part of the last two, teaming up with Whitaker to turn double plays in 1977. Dave Rozema, Jack Morris, Steve Kemp and Jason Thompson played on the earlier squads.

AAA Evansville was always competitive, winning both the 1975 and 1979 American Association World Series. Mark Fidrych was a product of the 1975 champs while Kirk Gibson, Dave Stegman, Dan Petry and Tom Brookens were among the future major leaguers developed in 1979.

Through Bill Lajoie’s great drafting and the wisdom of farm director Hoot Evers, the Tigers managed to have their cake and eat it, too. They developed major league players and they did it through winning in the minors.

Winning a minor league championship means nothing if it’s done by older players who have no upside to play in the big leagues. Just the same, having a losing team of prospects is also counterproductive.

The primary goal of any franchise is to win at the big league level and you have to train your players accordingly. It’s not simply developing their tools, but teaching them how to play winning team baseball. If all they know is losing and they don’t play to win in the minors, how can they play to win in the majors?

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