1776

I won’t say Norris should or shouldn’t be released. I will say, I would hate to see him leave the organization. I have been a fan since he arrived...and that’s been a tough ride at times.

MLB reporting Robinson Cano is being suspended for 162 games next year for testing positive for the drug Stanozolol. Don’t know if this would include playoffs if the Mets get in.

The Miami Marlins hired Kim Ng as their G.M. I’ve never been a Marlins fan but wish her luck in her new position.

The Mets have informed Binghamton that they will remain an affiliate in 2021. Binghamton was one of the teams on the list of locations being eliminated. I would guess they would remain AA but don’t know that. Maybe Erie will survive.

Yep. That was his 2007 pitch. He also told the cops then he had one or two glasses of wine as I recall. Tony needs some new lines.

From a couple of comments I’ve seen on a couple of baseball fan sites, December 1st may be the deadline for MLB to assign affiliate locations. The sooner the better.

From an article by Mike Oz regarding LaRussa’s latest encounter with the cops: La Russa stated, “I had one glass of wine while at dinner with my friends.” Before searching his person and placing him in the rear of my patrol vehicle La Russa asked, “Do you see my ring?” I asked La Russa what he was talking about? La Russa stated, “I’m a hall of famer baseball person.” While placing him in the rear of my patrol vehicle, La Russa stated, “I’m legit. I’m a hall of famer brother. Your [sic] trying to embarrass me.” I advised La Russa that I will to embarrass him, and he would be treated with the utmost respect.”

This is Tony La Russa’s second DUI charge. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI in 2007 after he fell asleep at traffic light in Florida. This arrest occured in Arizona. A White Sox spokesman said the organization was aware of the incident.

nm

The Florida State League and the California League will be moving to Low A in 2021. I imagine the purpose of this is so the younger guys, up until High A, can train in one facility. Little to no travel. That’s why I’m thinking (hoping) the Tigers can just flip their high and low A team locations.

With the Yankees moving out of Trenton, the Tigers possibly could end up there if Erie gets passed over. The Trenton folks were very pi$$ed off at the Yankees and said as much in a letter to them. possibly... AAA- Toledo AA- Erie or Trenton High A- West Michigan Low A- Lakeland

So we now know Lakeland will be the Low A team of the Tigers. The Yankees High A team moved to Hudson Valley, former home of the Low A team of the Rays. Their AA team moved from Trenton to Somerset. So, who will call West Michigan home? The High A team? The AA team? It’s getting interesting. The Yankees vacated Charleston, SC.

Former Asheville Tourists.

There are currently five teams in the CL located in the Carolinas. Either they add one or drop one to have a league. I can’t imagine a four team league but MLB is calling the shots so... Burlington, NC lost their APPY team and that park had just received a million dollar plus upgrade. I don’t know that they would get a team though.

MiLB News from Baseball Digest It’s never been a secret that MLB’s takeover of Minor League Baseball would involve plenty of change. In some ways, there’s been less change than many pundits predicted, and most of the discussed league realignments are focused on the Class A leagues, driven by a variety of factors. After talking on background with several MiLB owners and MiLB/MLB C suite execs about what they’re expecting and been told, we can pass along many details about the upcoming 2021 season and beyond. Nothing is finalized, of course, and changes can be made in a final agreement. Here’s what we’re looking at today in terms of Class A alignments: LOW A California League (8 teams) Florida State League (10 teams) Sally League (12 teams) HIGH A Midwest League Northwest League Carolina League New Mid-Atlantic League The California League would remain at eight teams, while the Florida State League would cut back to 10 teams and the Sally League to 12 teams. It’s less clear how the new High-A circuits would be arranged, save a cutback to the Northwest League to six teams, and there may be teams moving between the Low-A Sally League and the High-A Carolina League and a new Mid-Atlantic League. In particular, the Carolina League may end up being a real Carolina League. Why move the Cal League to Low A from High A? Purely to make the numbers across all of Minor League Baseball. There’s only room for six teams when all the other High-A slots are filled, so the decision was made to shift the Northwest League—which will be filled by affiliates of West Coast MLB teams—to High A. This is also the rationale for moving the Midwest League to High A and the Florida State League to Low A. We will also see some gymnastics in the High-A level, partly to address travel and partly to address existing ownership situations and affiliations. Some teams, like the Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, want to maintain their existing affiliation structures; the White Sox, in fact, will likely see no changes to its full-season affiliates. There should be less change on the Triple-A and Double-A fronts. Three Triple-A teams—San Antonio, Fresno and Wichita—have been designated to move from Triple-A to Double-A’s Texas League or (in the case of Fresno) to what will be the Low-A Cal League. Taking their place: St. Paul, where the Minnesota Twins could affiliate with the St. Paul Saints; Sugar Land and Jacksonville, which will become the Miami Marlins’ top affiliate. Miami is one of the winners in the realignment, with a Triple-A affiliate just up the coast and the addition of Pensacola as a Double-A affiliate. Texas and Houston are also winners, with league alignments designed to protect their investments in High-A and Low-A markets. We’ve seen the Appalachian League transitioning to summer-collegiate playin partnership with USA Baseball under a proposed three-year agreement, and a similar proposal was made to owners in the Short Season A NY-Penn League, where Prep Baseball Report would administer the league. Prep Baseball Report runs high-school and 13-and-under tournaments in the region, but the aim here is for college seniors to be routed to the NY-Penn League, with juniors routed to the Cape Cod League (which is pretty much how it happens now anyway), and freshmen and sophomore routed to the Appalachian League. Unlike the Appalachian League, which involves a three-year commitment from MLB and USA Baseball, the NY-Penn League commitment from MLB and Prep Baseball Report involves five years. But MLB did not go to any great efforts to make this an attractive offer. Subsidies to Appalachian League teams are expected to continue, but none were presented to NY-Penn League owners. (Other affiliated teams not in the NY-Penn League but ultimately contracted may be invited into the NY-Penn League effort as well.) MLB is talking a shorter 76-game season, cutting team revenues by at least a quarter million annually. A short-season league would become a really short-season league. Which is why a new NY-Penn League is not a sure thing. Some teams in the NY-Penn League will be moved to a new Mid-Atlantic League or the Carolina League, and one, Brooklyn, is expected to shift to the Class AA Eastern League. Given the geography, we expect a few teams at some point to explore other options, including moves to an independent league like the Atlantic League or the Frontier League (probably not until 2022 until the earliest, however), or shifting to other summer-collegiate leagues that may be a better geographic fit. Indeed, things are also unsettled on the independent-baseball front as well in terms of season launches, league lineups and season schedules. With the 2020 MiLB season not expected to start until the beginning of May, it will be interesting to see if the Atlantic League sticks to its traditional 140-game schedule beginning in April. There are several summer-collegiate leagues operating in the NY-Penn League footprint. Alternately, it’s likely that a few current NY-Penn League teams could end up folding, with other operators looking at entering those markets. Options, alas, are not being presented to the eight teams of the Rookie Pioneer League. Owners there have proposed running the Pioneer League as an independent league with hard age caps, focusing on undrafted players who are still considered prospects—those players who in the past would have been drafted in the 25th round and assigned to the Pioneer League. That’s received a chilly reception in MLB offices, and there’s been no proposal from MLB to help with any transition to summer collegiate, either. Despite MLB’s promises to take care of every current MiLB team, that promise apparently doesn’t extend to Ogden, Colorado Springs or Billings. One thing that’s hindered talks: MLB still declines to release a list of the chosen 120 teams. Realistically, there aren’t open slots for 120 teams: by the time you remove the MiLB teams either owned by MLB teams or operating with significant, publicized or unpublicized investments by MLB teams, the number is far closer to 90 open slots, even though some of those teams with MLB ties are likely to go away as well. And that’s not even counting the several MiLB teams whose ownership groups include individual investors who are also investors in MLB teams—the sort of relationships that have affected affiliate agreements in the past. Add in the two or three independent markets that will become affiliated markets. Right now there are 130 owners who think their teams will survive the upcoming contraction; we expect plenty of shock and surprise when that’s not the case. As of now nothing is finalized, including the new licensing terms MLB will be imposing, as the old MiLB franchise system is abandoned. While there has been some talk between MLB and team owners about these terms, a final agreement has not been presented. With all this recent activity, there are still many details to be finalized. No one is expecting schedules any time soon, and insiders don’t expect to see them until the end of the year. This means that the sales season that usually begins before the end of the prior season won’t realistically begin until January. That delay affects teams on a wide range of transactions, ranging from season-ticket sales and renewals to sponsorship and promo deals: hard to set a promo date when you don’t have a date, much less a length of a season, a final list of opponents or a starting date for the season. And the delays affect other entities doing business with MiLB teams. One prominent entertainment vendor told us he’s had no bookings yet for 2021—and normally he’d have several in hand this time of year. Like everyone else, the success of his business will depend on decisions made in MLB’s New York offices. As we noted, nothing laid out here is final, and there may be tweaks along the way. But with the information presented to owners, we can see what sort of operating environment MLB is envisioning for Minor League Baseball and the new summer-collegiate leagues: an environment where MLB still keeps control of player development, without the cost of paying the salaries of a full farm system. Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the potential relationship between the Twins and the St. Paul Saints.