I grew up in Aberdeen, South Dakota. I saw Palmer, Watt, Etchebarren and Belanger before they were Orioles. I also saw Scruggs, Rathbun, Rouse and Mazzerelli, who never made it. I enjoyed them all. For 40 plus years now there has not been a farm club in Aberdeen. The nearest baseball is Minneapolis. So I would like more minor leagues, but I understand the economics (and Aberdeen I'm told was disliked by black players as an all white town). But I don't see a reason for cutting further, and I don't see the logic in assuming that someone coming out of college is all he is ever likely to be. Remember under the new scheme Toby Welk would never be drafted; yet he's looked good so far.
The major league teams spend less on their entire farm systems than they do on a few players in the majors. If they are losing money, it is not because of the minors but because of bad decisions elsewhere. Yet this is a "good" place to cut because the people who live near the big league stadium don't care, the major leaguers who run the union don't care, the media who cover the majors don't care, the owners can slip a few dollars in their pockets, and the people who do care can be labeled dreamers and mopers and unrealistic.