Rethinking Minor League Baseball

[jarman86]

3 hours ago, weams said:

How would they be getting paid the same? Indy ball is 600 to a grand for four or five months a year. 

It varies league to league.  Atlantic League pays more, Pecos I think, a lot of players pay to play.  Either way, minor league players regardless get paid pennies is my point.  At what point below the poverty line does it matter?  

The other point with the comment is, you are going to get players playing for teams no matter what it seems.  There are 57 teams as Frobby put it, and at least 18 guys a team, that's more than a thousand players. 

Edited September 24, 2019 by jarman86

[weams]

[weams]

Just now, weams said:

AAA

[weams]

 

BBA

[Balt-transplant]

Worth Noting that a number of independent league teams draw exceptionally well.  Some though are not geographically well located (Long Island Ducks and Somerset Patriots)given commitments of logical MLB clubs to other cities where they have a strong fan basis (Yankees in Scranton Wilkes-Barre and Trenton and Mets in Binghamton and Syracuse NY).  

Here are the top 10 independent league teams in attendance

                         Team                    League          Total             Games      2019              2018            Change         

                                                                          Attendance                          Avg.              Avg.

1	St. Paul Saints	AA	394,970	49	8,061	8,178	-0.01
2	Somerset Patriots	AtL	344,641	69	5,385	5,110	0.05
3	Long Island Ducks	AtL	328,194	70	4,973	4,916	0.01
4	Sugar Land Skeeters	AtL	304,753	68	4,482	4,562	-0.02
5	Lancaster Barnstormers	AtL	285,441	71	4,391	3,903	0.13
6	Winnipeg Goldeyes	AA	195,787	48	4,079	4,477	-0.09
7	Chicago Dogs	AA	166,672	46	3,623	2,954	0.23
8	Kansas City T-Bones	AA	156,058	45	3,468	3,958	-0.12
9	F-M RedHawks	AA	161,857	47	3,444	3,402	0.01
10	Lincoln Saltdogs	AA	168,394	49	3,437	3,336	0.03

[cboemmeljr]

17 hours ago, weams said:

 

BBA

An interesting read.  From my perspective, the questions are: would we lose Norfolk as an affiliate?  What happens to Aberdeen's Ripken Stadium (IIRC, it was built to standards above Short-Season specs)?

[Legend_Of_Joey]

On 10/19/2019 at 7:41 AM, cboemmeljr said:

An interesting read.  From my perspective, the questions are: would we lose Norfolk as an affiliate?  What happens to Aberdeen's Ripken Stadium (IIRC, it was built to standards above Short-Season specs)?

If Norfolk is lost, Bowie probably bumps up to AAA and gets stadium improvements. Frederick could go to AA (or Delmarva, with their recent stadium upgrades.) Aberdeen can move up to A/A+ easily.

[weams]

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/ny-minor-league-luhnow-madden-20191116-73ssnr7ybvdwzdr5vd44vh4e5m-story.html

[Enjoy Terror]

Implying that the Orioles would not be directly affected by MiLB contraction.

I see the Keys on here.

[PaulFolk]

1 hour ago, Enjoy Terror said:

Implying that the Orioles would not be directly affected by MiLB contraction.

I see the Keys on here.

This is the first I've heard that the Orioles were involved in deciding which minor league teams should be eliminated. I would've thought MLB would be in charge of that decision, not individual teams.

[Luke-OH]

16 minutes ago, PaulFolk said:

This is the first I've heard that the Orioles were involved in deciding which minor league teams should be eliminated. I would've thought MLB would be in charge of that decision, not individual teams.

The plan was reportedly spearheaded by Lunhow with support from Elias and Stearns (both who worked under Lunhow at one point). It passed on a 30-0 vote though. It still obviously has to be negotiated with MiLB. 

It eliminates drafted players debuting their draft year.  Instead they'd go to the team complexes for player development and onboarding. The draft would also be shortened to 20 rounds I believe. 

[Enjoy Terror]

7 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

The plan was reportedly spearheaded by Lunhow with support from Elias and Stearns (both who worked under Lunhow at one point).

I thought the tweeter was speaking tongue in cheek because the Orioles, Astros, and Brewers teams are underrepresented on that list. I see now that he was serious.

[Can_of_corn]

14 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

The plan was reportedly spearheaded by Lunhow with support from Elias and Stearns (both who worked under Lunhow at one point). It passed on a 30-0 vote though. It still obviously has to be negotiated with MiLB. 

It eliminates drafted players debuting their draft year.  Instead they'd go to the team complexes for player development and onboarding. The draft would also be shortened to 20 rounds I believe. 

Similar to the international players.  You still could assign college players to a team correct?

[Luke-OH]

17 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Similar to the international players.  You still could assign college players to a team correct?

Not if the MLB has its druthers, they want the players to sign contracts for the upcoming year, not the current one. 

[Tony-OH]

21 hours ago, Luke-OH said:

The plan was reportedly spearheaded by Lunhow with support from Elias and Stearns (both who worked under Lunhow at one point). It passed on a 30-0 vote though. It still obviously has to be negotiated with MiLB. 

It eliminates drafted players debuting their draft year.  Instead they'd go to the team complexes for player development and onboarding. The draft would also be shortened to 20 rounds I believe. 

While I fully support the draft rounds being lowered, 20 seems a like a deep cut. I guess it does give more players a chance to sign with teams with a better opportunities, but 30 rounds seem more realistic. Not a fan of the signed players not playing in a league though as it would make it a lot harder for us to see them initially. I'd like to see maybe one Rookie League where new players get to play for half a season.