42 minor league teams were cut , 120 teams left Each MLB team is allowed 4 teams, AAA,AA, High A, Low A. Rookie leagues are gone.
some cut teams are now independent or college summer teams
So, as of now, no baseball in Lowell (MA). They have a beautiful facility which is (was) almost always full. Things continue to keep sucking …
For those who don’t get their news filtered through TwitFace, here’s a link to the original website:
We in Miami got dinged. We had two A-level teams: Jupiter Hammerheads (MIA affiliate) and Palm Beach Cardinals (STL affiliate). Both are still there but are reduced to Low-A status. But at least we still have baseball.
damn this sucks
It’s interesting how so many teams that were previously classified as low A are now high A, and vice versa. For example, the new High A Central is composed of former Midwest League teams that were previously low A (minus a few cuts, like the Burlington [Iowa] Bees). The Low A Southeast looks just like the previous high-A Florida State League (although I’m less familiar with the FSL than the Midwest League, so please correct me if I’m wrong).
Any ideas why this switcheroo was executed?
The Spinners did have a good ball park, but with a new stadium in Worcester, an unused one in Pawtucket, and I think the Seadogs have a decent ballpark as well. The Fisher Cats are up in Manchester as well. It’s sad that we’re losing the team in Lowell, but there’s baseball to be had if you want.
Spitballin’ here …
It makes sense to keep the various league alignments roughly the same. Existing rivalries, stadiums, etc. will still be used the same way, at least among the surviving teams.
So you’d expect a whole league (e.g. FSL) to promote / demote as a unit (minus any attrited teams and any rebalancing that triggers).
I’d also expect the changes to be least in AAA, larger in AA, etc., down to Rookie league that was simply shut down altogether.
Beyond that there seems to be a geographical compression. The AAA teams of, say, the NL Central are likely to be nearer their home markets than are the Low-A teams of the NL Central.
Over time a lot of MiLB teams have been traded between their MLB clubs. Which has slowly created a lot of geographic anomalies with affiliate teams 3 time zones away from their MLB counterpart.
I suspect MLB/MiLB used this opportunity to sort of “clean house” and correct a bunch of these anomalies all at once.
I’m hoping eventually some insider info on who was thinking what as they put the package together will come out. Until then we’re left with mostly guesswork like mine.
Aside from the country losing dozens of teams that provide fairly important positions in their respective economies, I’m excited that Omaha and Indianapolis are in the same division now. It’ll give me a chance to see up-and-coming Royals when they come to town.
Independent teams have always been around and some do well. Some of the new teams that are indy may do well if they have good ticket sales.
My local Everett Aquasox got promoted to High A and now will play more games and have better players. That’s cool, I always thought they were fun.
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1324774632747003911/xTuMicrh_400x400.jpg
Every minor league team I’ve seen in person or reasonably planned to see appears to have survived. So that’s good for me.
We were told about the shake up around here a couple months ago. The Somerset Patriots were an unaffiliated team in the independent Atlantic League. The last few years the league stayed independent but partnered with MLB. That’s were they have been testing new rules like starting a man at second in extra innings. Now they are going to be the Yankees AA team.
The Trenton Thunder was the Yankees previous AA team. They will now be in the MLB Draft League.
I have seen games in both stadiums. Both are nice with a slight edge to the Trenton stadium. Both great places to see a game. It’s much easier to get in and out of the stadium for the Patriots and it’s slightly closer. It’s good news for me since I prefer to see affiliated teams and actual big league prospects as well as stars in rehab assignments
This whole flail will definitely be an opportunity for the various independent leagues. The $64K question for each will be how much Americans want to go to local ball in the major-COVID and eventually minor-COVID eras.
I went to lots of
games in my prior town. The roster of teams who dropped dead over the years is sobering. And that was before COVID raised it’s baleful head.
I really wonder whether as COVUID recedes Americans will want to embrace outdoor group activities or will all hide in their houses on the internet.
Great fortunes will accrue to whoever gets this right.
Doesn’t look like anything changes for the Louisville Bats (formerly Riverbats). They’re staying the AAA affiliate for Cincinnati. And the Cubs keep their upper four intact, for the most part. Their High-A and Low-A affiliates swap levels.
Let’s bring back the Havana Sugar Kings!
the guy who owned the Durham Bulls when the movie came out sold the team and got involved with independent teams. He started the team for around $50k in 1980 and made millions when he sold it.