Q&A with Kyle Haines

Looking back on a year of development

Photo Credit: John O’Connor | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Kyle Haines has more than just a 24/7, 365 type of job. He has a 24/7, 365 type job that involves near constant phone ringing, texting, and urgent emailing, sleeping in airports on route to or from (or both) one of the affiliates, checking in constantly on the progress and well-being of 180 different players in the States and some 100 more in the Dominican Republic, as well as a large staff that works under him. For the last couple of years, it’s also involved helping oversee the progress of the spectacular new player development center in Scottsdale, the $70 million dollar Papago Park complex (a complex that is filled to the rafters with cutting edge technology and state-of-the-art health and fitness facilities), as well as inventing new player development techniques on the fly to navigate the challenges of a global pandemic and lost minor league season.

Earlier this summer, I sat and watched a game in San Jose with Haines — a night that involved two different mobile devices, constant toggling back and forth between three different ongoing games on MiLB.tv (along with plentiful commiseration on the truly terrible MiLB app), while never missing a pitch happening in the game in front of him. Through it all, he absolutely lived and died on the success or failure of execution on every single pitch thrown or taken by every single player at every single level.

Spend an hour watching minor league baseball with Kyle Haines and you will never for a moment after forget how much this man cares — passionately, intently — about the future of the young men whose professional and personal progress he’s been entrusted to help advance.

All of which is to say that it’s always an incredible privilege when I get the opportunity to spend some time chatting with Haines, as I did a few weeks ago by phone.