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<\/p>\nOn July 21 of last year, two longtime teammates each took their turn sitting down at a table adorned in Los Angeles Angels red, the team\u2019s logo plastered on the wall behind them.<\/p>\n
In Instagram photos posted from that day, they\u2019re smiling. It was another joint milestone for Jakob Guardado and Alec Gomez \u2014 two Orange County kids living their baseball dream. They\u2019d played together in high school and college. And now, they were making the leap together into professional baseball as undrafted free agents.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the kind of story, however, that can be viewed in two different ways.<\/p>\n
The signings can be seen as joyful low-stakes moment, the shared start of a journey that they hope ends in the major leagues.<\/p>\n
They can also be seen as the byproduct, at least in part, of nepotism \u2013 the granting of a chance to certain players because of their connections, while others might never be afforded the same opportunity.<\/p>\n
Once an extremely common practice in baseball, these types of signings are now drawing more scrutiny.<\/p>\n
Jakob is the son of Angels executive Eddie Guardado, who was also a longtime closer for the Minnesota Twins, enshrined in that team\u2019s Hall of Fame. Gomez is Jakob\u2019s longtime teammate.<\/p>\n
Players with big-league bloodlines do have a long history of performing well. Still, neither of these two were particularly productive college players. Gomez played in only five Division I games following a successful season at the Division II level. Guardado\u2019s collegiate ERA was 6.22, his fastball averaged 88.8 miles per hour, and he struck out just 5.3 batters per nine innings.<\/p>\n
One college head coach whose team faced Guardado said that he thought it was a stretch to sign him to a pro contract. The coach, along with most of the people The Athletic spoke to for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to provide a candid perspective and preserve relationships across the sport.<\/p>\n
Both Guardado and Gomez declined comment through an Angels spokesperson, and the team declined to make Eddie Guardado available for comment.<\/p>\n
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\n Jakob Guardado, shown pitching at University of the Pacific in 2024. (AP Photo\/Amanda Loman)<\/p>\n
Drafting family members or signing them to free agent contracts is as much a part of baseball history as sunflower seeds and the seventh inning stretch. For years, teams often used the later rounds of the draft for these selections, because the stakes were low and roster spots were considered plentiful.<\/p>\n
In 2015, the Phillies drafted the sons of four organizational employees in the 35th round or later. The Padres drafted Rick Renteria\u2019s son twice, in 2007 and 2012, while Rick was a coach in the organization. In 2005, the Mariners drafted Rufus Lumry III out of Princeton; his father owned part of the team.<\/p>\n
All of those examples were in line with the norm at the time.<\/p>\n
However, the elimination of 40 minor league teams in 2021, the subsequent elimination of 20 draft rounds, and the league\u2019s institution of a hard 165-player domestic organizational cap in 2023 have changed the entire dynamic of minor league roster decisions.<\/p>\n
There was a time when teams employed well over 200 minor leaguers. Now, clubs are far more judicious about every uniformed athlete, and signings that may smack of nepotism stand out for their rarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s much different today,\u201d said one current big league scouting director. \u201cIt\u2019s almost non-existent because you can\u2019t waste picks. Period. \u2026 You can\u2019t afford to waste roster spots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baseball has long accepted nepotism picks because the stakes were so low. Many of these picks never play in a professional game. Why would fans care?<\/p>\n
Within the game, however, with roster spots now at a premium, every player and every signing is scrutinized.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just not fair anymore,\u201d one baseball agent, who represents mostly minor league players, said of nepotism signings. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have guys either not move up and get the development they need, or get cut. And it\u2019s so easy to get cut now.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what makes Guardado and Gomez stand out in today\u2019s game. Gomez\u2019s entire D-I experience was going 1-of-14 at the plate while playing at University of Pacific in Stockton, California. Guardado, also at Pacific, posted a 1.660 WHIP and allowed 19 homers over his two seasons.<\/p>\n
Director of player development Joey Prebynski, who has overseen an Angels system that annually ranks among the lowest in MLB, told The Athletic the signings were rooted in believing the players\u2019 abilities and their specific fits for necessary roles in the organization.<\/p>\n
While he declined to elaborate on the process of how the two were signed, he did note that, generally speaking, they rely \u201con recommendations from people that you trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Angels case might be among the more glaring examples. But even in an era where roster spots are scarce, other examples that raise eyebrows can be found.<\/p>\n
Peyton Glavine, the son of Hall of Famer Tom Glavine, never rose above A-Ball in parts of four seasons in the Washington Nationals organization. After the Nationals released him this January at age 26, he was signed by his father\u2019s longtime team, the Atlanta Braves in February. The Braves subsequently released him a month later.<\/p>\n
A\u2019s minor league hitting coordinator Todd Takoyashi oversees the development of his catcher son Tommy, who hit just three collegiate homers. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts\u2019 son was signed by the Diamondbacks in 2023 after posting a .611 OPS over four college seasons. Brewers legend Prince Fielder\u2019s son was signed by Milwaukee out of high school after going undrafted.<\/p>\n
Not all these signings should be automatically cast as negative, of course. Take Jack O\u2019Dowd, son of longtime Rockies GM Dan O\u2019Dowd. Jack was a productive player at the University of Texas. But he was undrafted, unsigned, and only landed with his father\u2019s former team this year after mashing in independent ball in 2025, with a .338 average and a 1.091 OPS. He\u2019s the kind of player that teams might rightly take a chance on, and sometimes, a personal connection to a player means a chance to unearth a diamond in the rough; in 43 games in the Rockies organization so far, O\u2019Dowd has a .358 average and a 1.100 OPS.<\/p>\n
That is what makes these cases so complicated; they are rarely perfectly clear-cut.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody that I work with, they always speak highly of (my son),\u201d said one high-ranking baseball organizational official who had a son in the minor leagues.<\/p>\n
He spoke on condition of anonymity, concerned that his comments might upset his family. He said he wished his son was 10 years older, because back then it would have been easier to call in a favor from any number of other teams. Those days, he said, are done.<\/p>\n
The official\u2019s comments spoke to a self-awareness about the situation: A recognition that his own personal bias could be at play, and that his own authority in the organization could be a benefit to his son, fairly or not.<\/p>\n
The positive reports he got were nice, he said, but he understood they could be inherently flawed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re also my friends,\u201d he said. \u201cIf he was being a little turd, I\u2019m not sure if they\u2019d tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not all roster spots are equal, of course. There has always been a need for so-called organizational players \u2013 \u201corg guys,\u201d \u2013 who are not likely to make the majors, but who are there to help fill out rosters, challenge the true prospects, and to be a quality presence in the clubhouse.<\/p>\n
But those spots, too, are valuable, and the smaller minors have led to fierce competition for even those places. An org guy who might still have an outside chance to make the majors someday is a valuable thing, and if one is jettisoned in favor of a nepotism draftee, that can sting.<\/p>\n
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