A few weeks ago, word came out that there were going to be some "significant changes" to Minor League Baseball in 2021. That obviously led to a lot of questions as to what that actually meant, while also creating a lot of speculation about the future of the Minor Leagues. Since then, details have been gradually spilling out, and it looks like MLB does, indeed, want to do a complete overhaul. Which has (obviously) been met by some mixed reaction.
Nothing has been confirmed, but from the information that has been leaked, it looks like the Minor Leagues will be completely restructured in 2021. Some teams will move from Triple-A to Class-A (or vice versa) and there will be a slew of affiliation changes. The big sticking point for a lot of people, though, is that this plan calls for condensing some leagues and reducing the overall number of teams. These small towns wouldn't lose their baseball teams entirely. They would just no longer be affiliated with a Major League club.
I get the idea behind this. It was first proposed by (who else?) the Houston Astros, but has gathered some steam among the other owners. Currently, teams are only required to have four Minor League affiliates (Triple-A, Double-A, High-A, Low-A). But there's no maximum. The Yankees have eight Minor League affiliates. The teams that have more affiliates, obviously, have more players. There's no cap on the number of players you can have in the system either, so some teams have significantly more players under contract (many of whom have little to no shot at reaching the Major Leagues) than others.
This aims to rectify both of those problems. There would be 120 affiliated Minor League teams, one at each of the top four levels for each of the 30 franchises. That would also serve to limit the number of players you can sign into each organization. By doing that, Minor League salaries would, theoretically, go up across the board.
Under this plan, short-season A-ball and rookie leagues would be eliminated. Those are primarily small-town teams with tiny ballparks that aren't quite up to the standard MLB requires. Those that have adequate ballparks would move up to a higher level and replace another team with a small stadium. The others would be given the option to be part of a "dream league" with undrafted players or transition to independent ball. Some, unfortunately, would likely fold under that scenario.
Although, eliminating short-season A-ball and rookie leagues entirely doesn't seem necessary. I'd rather see that level condensed, instead. Make that a fifth required level, but each team can only have one affiliate in it. That brings it to 150 affiliated teams.
Reducing the number of affiliates would both save money and lead to higher salaries. The Major League teams pay the salary, benefits and insurance for all of the players and coaches on their Minor League affiliates. By paying fewer people, they can give them each more money.
Minor League owners obviously like the current set up (which is part of the reason they don't want to change it). The only people they have to pay are the direct team staff. And, they also get the benefit of saying that their team is associated with their Major League parent club. Not only would they lose that, but they'd also have to start paying the players and coaches themselves. (However, on the flip side, if they were to become an independent team, they'd be able to sign whoever they want and pay them whatever they want. They wouldn't have a Major League team making those decisions for them, and they wouldn't be based on what's best for the parent club.)
Yes, there are some Minor League teams that need their Major League affiliation in order to survive. But even with Major League affiliation, we've got Minor League teams being sold and moved or folding and being replaced by a team team on seemingly an annual basis, particularly at those lower levels. I'm not saying I want to see towns lose their teams, but this could potentially bring some stability to the lower levels of Minor League Baseball.
The draft, which currently takes place in mid-June, would also be moved until after the College World Series. That's where most of the players on short-season and rookie teams come from, which is why those seasons don't start until July. Seeing as the college players who get drafted keep playing throughout the NCAA Tournament before reporting to their Minor League teams, I have no issue with this. They also want to reduce the number of rounds in the draft, which sounds like a bad thing until you consider the fact that everybody who goes undrafted then becomes a free agent and can sign with anybody.
Travel has also been mentioned as one of the reasons MLB would like to restructure the Minors, and that's completely understandable. There are three Triple-A teams in Upstate New York and no Double-A teams west of Texas. And, since everybody is required to have an affiliate, that leads to some less-than-desirable arrangements. (One of the articles I read mentioned making the travel within the leagues better, too, but the bigger concern, at least for me, is the distance between each team's affiliates, which obviously has a big impact on guys who get called up.)
That's probably the biggest impetus for these planned changes, in fact. The current set-up is very favorable to the Minor League teams, but not so much for the Major League clubs. Affiliation agreements are only for two years at a time, which gives the Minor League owners way too much leverage. As a result, we've seen a number of Major League franchises buy Minor League teams in recent years. That way they can invest in the team and its ballpark without having to worry about an affiliation change.
Major League Baseball's agreement with the Minor League clubs expires after the 2020 season, which is why 2021 is the year being targeted for these changes. And they make a lot of sense from MLB's perspective. Yes, there's plenty of negotiation that needs to be done, and I'm sure there will be plenty of lawsuits. But, as the entity providing Minor League teams with their players (something you kinda need in order to, you know, have a baseball team), Major League clubs deserve to get more out of it than they currently are.
There are plenty of twists and turns to come in this story, but major changes are definitely coming to the Minor Leagues in 2021. And I'm all for it. I sympathize with the fans in the small towns who may or may not lose their teams, but restructuring the Minor Leagues will likely end up being a good thing for everybody.
No comments:
Post a Comment