Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

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MrTPlush

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#41

Posted: November 18, 2019, 12:34 PM

Posts: 13169

Man Quad Cities gets a decent chunk of people to the games and have a nice stadium/location.

What a shame for some of these cities and owners if it goes through.

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RoCoBrewfan

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#42

Posted: November 18, 2019, 6:03 PM

Global Moderator

Posts: 7942

Beloit's stadium is an absolute dump-ola. They've been talking for years about moving the Snappers to a different park or up here to Janesville or something (literally anything) and I too am surprised that they weren't one of the cities that are being considered for elimination. Even though Janesville and Rockford should, in theory, provide an attendance boost for the Snappers, Beloit averages about 1200 a game.

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DHonks

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#43

Posted: November 18, 2019, 8:07 PM

Posts: 8229

I'd much rather expand the minors.

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jerichoholicninja

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#44

Posted: November 18, 2019, 9:30 PM

Posts: 8678

RoCoBrewfan said:

I'm guessing by keeping them they're assuming some "free" government money for a new stadium. Or the under the table deals are already in place and they just need the minor league overhaul to actually happen.

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LincolnDD

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#45

Posted: November 18, 2019, 9:39 PM

Posts: 69

If they're really concerned about proximity (:rolleyes) they should focus more on realignment, shifting teams to different leagues/levels, and splitting existing leagues into smaller units. Merge all short season leagues (A and Rookie) into one 30-team level just like AAA, AA, H-A and L-A so that each Major League team has one affiliate at five levels. That would still require contracting ten teams (or twelve, if they're hell-bent on getting St. Paul and Sugar Land into affiliated ball), but that would be a lot less bloodshed. And honestly, there are some teams that probably need to go away (Batavia's been hanging on by a thread for years, and the Florida Firefrogs don't even have a home city right now), but 42 is too many. It would also give teams with "difficult" stadium situations time to fix those issues. If they don't, then MLB can cut the next thirty a few years down the road.

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MadThinker88

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#46

Posted: November 18, 2019, 11:01 PM

Posts: 1304
Location: Ohio

IF (& I mean IF) the majors is looking to expand by 2, there could be as many more 8 spots needed for full season minor league teams (2 each at AAA, AA, High-A & A).

That might save some spots (even if there is a shuffling of teams moving up levels)

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LincolnDD

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#47

Posted: November 19, 2019, 5:52 AM

Posts: 69

MadThinker88 said:

Really good point. Right now, it's really hard to pinpoint enough cities to handle minor league expansion, even with some prominent cities that have lost or are about to lose teams -- Pawtucket, New Orleans, Mobile -- available to fill some spots. I've tried to play around with this in the past (after coming across a post about it on Reddit), and it's not easy.

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Ueckerforpresident

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#48

Posted: December 07, 2019, 10:02 AM

Posts: 10
Location: Sweden

I'm a huge fan of small town ball so yeah I'm quite unhappy with the new minor league proposal. Unfortunately the more our society moves towards people staring at screens all the time instead of going out into the real world and actually doing stuff, the more baseball is going to concentrate to the top. In other words people in small towns are now more likely to stay at home and watch major league baseball on their big screen tv than go down to their local ball park and watch the real deal. It kind of sucks seeing all the money raked in by MLB these days, meanwhile the kids in the MiLB are basically working below the poverty level. Thats why I love small town ball, kids play with more heart, and it doesn't cost a fortune to take your family to a game.

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CheeseheadInQC

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#49

Posted: December 12, 2019, 12:14 AM

Posts: 469

MrTPlush said:

Man Quad Cities gets a decent chunk of people to the games and have a nice stadium/location.

What a shame for some of these cities and owners if it goes through.

It is a beautiful stadium. Thankfully we're now hearing that Q-C is not on the contraction list. Clinton and Burlington are, however.

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folly412

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#50

Posted: December 13, 2019, 11:05 PM

Posts: 1782

Interesting MiLB response to some of the realignment drama:

https://twitter.com/jnorris427/status/1 ... 3392161792

The first paragraph on the second page from this screenshot was an interesting tidbit to me:

Has anyone found the e-mail that MLB shared, and if it's dated? The MLB-owned Carolina League teams are the Mudcats in Zebulon (Brewers), Fayetteville (Astros) which just moved from Buies Creek, NC in 2019, and Down East in Kinston, NC (Rangers), which was established in 2017 with a 12-year lease.

Depending on the date of this memo, the Astros team would have had interest. The Rangers could have been looking for an out, given they've been last in the league in attendance. Not sure how serious they may have been, but it does seem reasonably likely the Brewers expressed interest in moving the Mudcats to Wilmington. Depending on the date, could have even been before the purchase. The Mudcats' facilities are very good though not new, and the market is ok a bit outside of rapidly-growing Raleigh, though being smack dab in Wilmington and playing when people flock to the beaches would probably be an upgrade.

Another note - they reference MLB "shared" this internal memo to Carolina league teams with the media. The Astros were the initiator with the Brewers and Orioles support in getting the realignment plan initiated. So pretty easy to guess how MLB was able to obtain and leak this Carolina League internal memo.

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MillerParkSouth

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#51

Posted: December 14, 2019, 11:20 AM

Posts: 1480

Manfred is evil

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LincolnDD

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#52

Posted: December 15, 2019, 10:56 AM

Posts: 69

folly412 said:

I haven't, but the Mudcats sure sound like a prime candidate. The Down East team does, too. I believe the Astros' affiliate had some sort of clarity on a new ballpark being built when they expanded to the area, so can't see Buies Creek/Fayetteville as the team with interest in Wilmington. The Rangers and Astros were both motivated primarily by getting out of the Cal League rather than owning their own teams, but I could see the Rangers looking for a better situation once they actually finalized their entry into the Carolina League.

I think the Red Sox own the Salem franchise, but I believe they're happy in their current facilities.

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LincolnDD

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#53

Posted: December 17, 2019, 4:25 PM

Posts: 69

Not the letter, but from a source that's usually pretty reliable:

https://ballparkdigest.com/2019/12/16/m ... r-leagues/

“But whatever the outcome, MLB has assured every public official who has contacted us that MLB will work diligently to preserve organized baseball in a compelling, fan-friendly format in every American city that currently has an affiliate. MILB has not made such a commitment, and even now multiple teams are actively trying to leave their communities for better deals elsewhere.”
True. And some of those teams include MiLB affiliates owned or partially owned by the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox.

Quote is from MLB, the reference to the specific teams is from the article's author. Milwaukee, Texas and Boston have three of the four MLB-owned affiliates in the Carolina League. The reference would have to be to the Mudcats in Milwaukee's case. Texas also owns their AA and Low-A teams, so could refer to one of them (though I'd guess they're pretty happy with their AA situation in Frisco). I don't know much about the Red Sox; I know there are some ownership ties to some affiliates, but Salem seems like a fit here as well.

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balsamlaker

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#54

Posted: March 29, 2020, 8:16 PM

Posts: 123

With the decrease in the size of the draft and the delay (if not cancellation) of the minor league system, you have to wonder if Colorado Springs baseball is done.

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SoCalBrewfan

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#55

Posted: March 31, 2020, 10:33 AM

Global Moderator

Posts: 1502

It is terribly uncharitable of me to think so, but I imagine that Manfred and some owners are cackling in glee in hopes that the affiliated minor leagues will die off as a result of this summer.

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LincolnDD

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#56

Posted: April 03, 2020, 8:09 AM

Posts: 69

SoCalBrewfan said:

It is terribly uncharitable of me to think so, but I imagine that Manfred and some owners are cackling in glee in hopes that the affiliated minor leagues will die off as a result of this summer.

Yep

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown ... af352664e4

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LincolnDD

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#57

Posted: April 03, 2020, 8:42 AM

Posts: 69

balsamlaker said:

With the decrease in the size of the draft and the delay (if not cancellation) of the minor league system, you have to wonder if Colorado Springs baseball is done.

I think it is. I guess more recent negotiations have included one short-season level above the complex leagues if enough teams are interested, but geography is a really big strike against maintaining the Pioneer League even if that were to happen. I think the PL and the Appy are both toast. With the Northwest League reportedly getting the bump up to Low A, the NY-Penn would probably handle what remains of short-season under a new Professional Baseball Agreement (as suggested by Keith Law in an article today). Maybe the two teams they dump from the NWL (especially if Boise is one) could join a new league with some of the PL teams if there's enough interest? Probably still would hurt CS though. Which is a shame, as that's arguably one of the better facilities in short-season ball.

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clancyphile

Re: Developing Players without the need for minor leagues

#58

Posted: April 06, 2020, 11:14 AM

Posts: 5062

LincolnDD said:

SoCalBrewfan said:

It is terribly uncharitable of me to think so, but I imagine that Manfred and some owners are cackling in glee in hopes that the affiliated minor leagues will die off as a result of this summer.

Yep

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown ... af352664e4

If so, then Manfred is cackling at MLB's eventual doom.

The fact of the matter is, Major League Baseball is increasingly inaccessible to the average fan. Going to the ballpark is almost prohibitively expensive for the average family.

They need the minor leagues to keep the sport accessible to the average family, if only for MLB's own survival 30-40 years down the road.

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