Is Local Travel Baseball Becoming Too Recreational? A Deep Dive into Youth Baseball's Evolution

The landscape of youth baseball has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past three decades. What was once an exclusive, competitive arena with clear distinctions has evolved into something far more complex—and according to veteran coaches Eric Johnson and Aaron Thigpen, potentially problematic. In their recent podcast discussion, these baseball industry veterans explored a pressing question: Has local travel baseball lost its competitive edge and become merely recreational?