Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

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greenback44
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Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

Post by greenback44 »

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... gue-teams/
MLB teams would be limited in the proposal to fielding five minor league clubs in the United States. That’s four full-season teams plus one complex-based Rookie affiliate. In addition to their 40-man roster players, each MLB team club would be limited to 150 players under minor league contracts on MiLB rosters. The proposal does not address roster limits for international players playing in the Dominican Summer League.
There's a lot more going on than just this quote, but this is the most obvious consequence.

This is long overdue. Tying low level players under the reserve clause to one MLB franchise doesn't do much for them, except get them a tiny bit of extra money.

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Swirls
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Re: Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

Post by Swirls »

So this would theoretically eliminate Johnson City and Batavia, correct? Leaving us with Jupiter, Peoria, Palm Beach, Springfield, and Memphis?

greenback44
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Re: Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

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Swirls wrote:So this would theoretically eliminate Johnson City and Batavia, correct? Leaving us with Jupiter, Peoria, Palm Beach, Springfield, and Memphis?
Yes, assuming Jupiter here means the affiliate in the Gulf Coast League aka the complex league.

The GCL plays in a lot of the same ballparks as their A+ big brothers. The first time I attended a GCL game I literally sat next to the official scorer, and he and I were literally the only two spectators without radar guns.

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go birds
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Re: Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

Post by go birds »

this thread is a good example of why the MLB forum and minor forum should be merged.

good thread that could generate alot of discussion thats prolly getting overlooked

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Big Amoco Sign
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Re: Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

Post by Big Amoco Sign »

Minor leaguers are underpaid...way underpaid. Need to fix that more than anything.

I worry about small town economies that depend on these games in their respective towns if they lose the teams.

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mikechamp
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Re: Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

Post by mikechamp »

Big Amoco Sign wrote:Minor leaguers are underpaid...way underpaid. Need to fix that more than anything.

I worry about small town economies that depend on these games in their respective towns if they lose the teams.
I concur with both of these statements, though I would add that MiLB umpires are also underpaid.

The billions that MLB rakes in annually needs to be spread around a little better than is currently allocated.

phins
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Re: Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

Post by phins »

mikechamp wrote:
Big Amoco Sign wrote:Minor leaguers are underpaid...way underpaid. Need to fix that more than anything.

I worry about small town economies that depend on these games in their respective towns if they lose the teams.
I concur with both of these statements, though I would add that MiLB umpires are also underpaid.

The billions that MLB rakes in annually needs to be spread around a little better than is currently allocated.
I feel like this is applicable to every industry, everywhere, but agreed.

This country has a growing divide between the rich and the 99.99% they want to convince they got rich on their own and shouldn't disperse wealth for the greater good.

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Re: Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

Post by Fat Strat »

Big Amoco Sign wrote:Minor leaguers are underpaid...way underpaid. Need to fix that more than anything.

I worry about small town economies that depend on these games in their respective towns if they lose the teams.
A-level minor league revenue is pretty much meaningless for towns large enough to host a MLB affiliate. Quad Cities, for example, is an A-level team with half a million people in the metro. Johnson City is 70k with a larger metro. We're a town of 40k with 100k metro and just brought in an independent league team -- Prospect league. It's great fun for a huge baseball town. But, no one is kidding themselves about the revenue the games generate. Probably less than our high school basketball and football teams. Also, there are a lot of independent leagues out there so towns that are losing an official MLB affiliate will be able to get an independent team almost immediately. If you have a decent stadium, teams will play in it. Johnson City will get a dozen offers from teams as soon as this goes through.

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CardsofSTL
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Re: Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

Post by CardsofSTL »

The Southern Illinois Miners are one of the greatest baseball teams in all of Little Egypt.

greenback44
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Re: Reorganizing the Minor Leagues

Post by greenback44 »

Fat Strat wrote:If you have a decent stadium, teams will play in it. Johnson City will get a dozen offers from teams as soon as this goes through.
The only stadium in the Appy League that would qualify as decent would be in Greeneville, and not coincidentally the Greeneville park is on a college campus. The rest are basically a bit nicer versions of old high school ballparks, as every park except Greeneville is at least 25 years old. The last Appy League city to lose its team was Martinsville, about 15 years ago (which they lost to Greeneville, of course). Their old stadium is now home to a wooden bat collegiate summer league, and not coincidentally WBCSL is what MLB is suggesting for the cities that lose their MILB teams.

There's just no way an Appy League can attract meaningful dollars to pay players. These are small cities in one of the poorest, most isolated areas in the country, so they need a major league subsidy. I loved going to games there, but the players hate it and I'd guess major league offices think it's absurd to send kids, many of them Hispanic immigrants, to Hooterville, Tennessee, so maybe half of them can make it to full season A-ball, and half of those can make it to AA. A huge chunk of these guys are essentially lottery tickets, and it's hard to see the economic sense of maintaining all these lower level franchises so that one of fifty lottery tickets can turn into Aaron Miles and maybe a second guy turns into Brandon Dickson (who BTW pitched for that college in Greeneville).

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