Former Rangers draft pick finds calling, success in Pioneer League

MISSOULA, Mont. — After injuries short-circuited his dream of making it to the big leagues as a pitcher, Michael Schlact is now helping players chase their own dreams in the Pioneer League.

Schlact, a third-round pick of the Texas Rangers in 2004, reached as high as Double-A before finding his way to independent ball in Amarillo. However, shoulder surgeries ended his throwing days in 2014. While the injuries might have prevented him from taking the mound, it also opened the door to what would eventually be a managerial career with the Missoula PaddleHeads.

"I had a coach in independent baseball who told me he saw something in me and gave me the opportunity to stay on after I had retired from playing," Schlact said. "He said, 'I want you to be my bullpen coach. I want you to try it, because I think you'd be really good at it.' That was the first time I ever really thought that. I didn't even know it was an option, but I left the clubhouse and the next day I was coaching the same players that I just was teammates with. 

"I knew that moment that this is actually what I was meant to do."

That show of faith has ballooned into a career in Missoula, where Schlact has guided the PaddleHeads for four seasons. He led his team to the Pioneer League title in 2021 and is once again preaching the value of the league in baseball's plan to help players reach the big leagues.

"At the end of the day, these are guys who, for whatever reason, have been told no," Schlact said. "They played collegiately and missed the draft or have played at lower levels of minor league ball but they got released. Now here they are and they have a chip on their shoulder or they want to prove something. They're just hungry and they love the game. When all of that gets put into this melting pot and you get to put it out on the field, it's a fun thing."

According to MLB, "The Pioneer Baseball League is intended to serve as a developmental league, with no player on the Active List having more than three years of prior professional baseball service. Each team is limited to a roster of 25 active players."

The Pioneer League being "developmental" also means the league can be a testing ground for different ways to enhance the game, ranging from the testing of the Automated Balls and Strikes (ABS) system to a Home Run Derby to decide the winner after nine innings rather than going to extra frames.

"I love the age of the player and the developmental aspect that it brings," Schlact said. "This league is sprinkled with a little bit of the experiment that MLB throws at us. We have the Home Run Derby instead of extra innings this year, just one of the little things they will throw at us."

Schlact compares the level of play in the Pioneer League to A-ball, noting players in the league have been noticed by MLB scouts and sent directly to High-A. He says the skill set is there for many players, but many of those same players also have to rediscover a love for baseball.

"The number one thing here is, let's get them to love the game again," Schlact said. "I think a lot of them are bitter towards it. 'Well, if I had it my way, I'd be drafted, or I'd be here.' Well, you're not, so how do we teach you to love the game again? It's been incredible to watch the physical tools show up when we step back and let them play and let them be them. It's freeing. That's part of what we've been watching here."

It's also one of the things that keeps motivating Schlact in Missoula.

"I think that when people think Pioneer League or when they think independent baseball in general, they think that's where I go when I'm giving it my last hurrah," Schlact said. "This is not where careers go to die. We've seen it too much. This has genuinely become a league where players get passed over, then come here and show scouts what they can do and get opportunities."

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.