Sept. 25: Both the American Association and the Frontier League have indeed been introduced as formal “partner leagues” as well, MLB has announced. The league’s press release indicates that both will “collaborate with MLB on initiatives to provide organized baseball to communities throughout the United States and Canada.”
“We welcome the American Association and Frontier Leagues as Partner Leagues, and look forward to working with them toward our shared goal of expanding the geographic reach of baseball,” Sword said in a new statement.
Sept. 23: Major League Baseball on Wednesday announced that the independent Atlantic League has been officially designated as MLB’s first “partner league.” As a partner league, the Atlantic League will “meet regularly with MLB to discuss joint marketing and promotional opportunities, including the leagues’ shared goal of providing baseball to communities throughout the United States,” per the press release announcing the partnership.
There was already an existing relationship between MLB and the Atlantic League, which has in recent years been a testing ground for experimental MLB rules such as the extra-innings runner on second base, pitch clocks, larger bases and even automated strike zones. Today’s agreement not only expands that relationship but extends the arrangement through the 2023 season.
“We are excited to extend our relationship with the Atlantic League, which provides us a unique means to push the sport forward,” MLB executive vice president of baseball economics and operations Morgan Sword said in a statement within the release. “The Atlantic League clubs and players have been great partners to us as we jointly test ways to make our game even more interesting and engaging to fans.”
The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reported this morning that MLB had been pursuing agreements not only with the Atlantic League but also with other high-profile independent leagues, including the American Association and the Frontier League. Minor league team owners who spoke with Drellich expressed trepidation that such partnerships could be used as leverage by MLB in ongoing talks with MiLB about a new Professional Baseball Agreement between the two parties.
It’s also possible that some clubs that are cut in the inevitable, broad-reaching contraction of the lower-level minor leagues could land in the Atlantic League or other newly appointed “partner leagues,” per Drellich. A timeline on additional agreements with the American Association, Frontier League or other indie circuits isn’t clear, but the PBA between Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball expires next week.
LordD99
The timing of this announcement is definitely for leverage with the ongoing negotiations with MiLB. Being one of the 40 teams cut from MiLB and then banished to a substandard “partner” league is adding insult to injury. Embarrassing how MLB is screwing over its true partners—the affiliates of MiLB.
timpa
Want robot umpires.
mrkinsm
Negative, MLB doesn’t need any leverage. They’ve already won. The milb agreement ends in a week.
bobk
I agree – this isn’t “leverage” – this is called bulldozing. it’s quite likely that these leagues will grow a bit. but MLB’s financial obligation – mostly in players, their injury coverage and staffing – will be considerably reduced.
LordD99
Positive. This tactic and its timing is exactly what you do when restructuring a new deal. Some negotiations are more pleasant than others. This is not a pleasant one since teams are being eliminated.
Hosmer for HOF
Great plot line in there if the Major League film series wants to further money grab
Christopher_Oriole
Only if Charlie Sheen makes a comeback, Wesley Snipes too(and bring back the guy from the second movie that played the same character)
Rangers29
Watching present, disese-riddled Charlie Sheen throw CGI darts would be amazing.
Convectess
Omar Epps
92jays
Willy mays hays
costergaard2
You may run like Mays, but you hit like
schwender
Get rid of affiliated baseball and let’s implement relegation
I’m joking, but yes
PapiElf
I’ve always wanted to see relegation. After a while, the Angels, Tigers, and Red Sox probably are worse than some minor league teams. It would be cool to see Yankees vs. El Paso Chihuahuas sometime.
Briffle2
It would be a truly globalized sport then. I imagine a Simpson’s situation with some eccentric multi-billionaire dropping a load of cash to buy a bunch of players.
mrdave
George Steinbrenner is back from the dead?
The Mistake of Giving Eugene Melnyk a Liver Transplant
And Dancing Homer?!?!?!?
bkbk
Angels could make the playoffs this weekend and advanced stats have them as a 5 win better team.
Give Billy 1 more year!
Dorothy_Mantooth
With the Astros playing the Rangers, it’s time to give up on the Angels’ post season dreams.
DarkSide830
its all fun and games until your team gets demoted. seriously though, it would be a neat wrinkle.
Rangers29
This is like the U.S signing a peace treaty with Canada. We get along fine already, we have the same goals, but now we want to say we are “friendly”. Independent leagues have the same goals as the majors just with lesser talent, but I guess this isn’t hurting anybody.
Though the reason for this has nothing to do with the Independent league, and everything to do with MiLB teams.
DarkSide830
odd given they’ve always had some relationship…cant see this pressuring MiLB though, the Atlantic League isnt large enough to allow for each team to properly develop their prospects
nymetsking
I’d think it’d be less of a developmental role and more of a place for AAAA guys to play, allowing the affiliates to focus more on developing the kids.
DarkSide830
and that *would* make a lot more sense really, though that’s kinda what they do know. it would also be dissapointing if MLB teams encouraged ALPB teams to sign inferior players because they thought they would provide more value as reserve guys though. frankly, why contract MiLB if you are trying to seemingly eliminate at few roster spots as possible?
LordD99
Also, keep in mind that one reason MLB is giving for wanting to reduce the number of MiLB affiliates by 40 teams is they claim many of the facilities aren’t up to standard. Many of the teams in MiLB being threatened with contraction have better facilities than existing teams in the Atlantic League!
btl05
I think “many” is a stretch. Some terrific minor league parks have opened in the last 15-20 years but they are still outnumbered by the substandard facilities. Minor league owners are far more likely to spend their money on the “fan experience”.. Tiki Bar? Great idea! Expand the clubhouse and install new carpet? Why would we do that!? When it comes to improving player facilities their checkbooks tend to do a David Copperfield.
mrkinsm
This is also not true, almost none of the 40 teams on the chopping blocks have facilities that outmatch the Atlantic League.
champion1701
The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes have a modern facility, the mlb is just intent on eliminating short season low A ball.
bobtillman
These things, as long and drawn out as they are, are basically cyclical in nature. The current system evolved basically because MLB teams were tired of paying independent owners for talent; the phrase “purchased a contract” stays with us today. Branch Rickey saw a much more efficient way, the “partnership” between MLB and MiLB.
But the system is broken, and player development has simply become too expensive. Teams routinely, between bonuses and development cost, spend 15-20 million a year for a system that if you’ve had a GOOD year, produces a utility infielder or a 4th starter.
Various “rookie/short season” leagues are essentially gone now…..”low-A” and “Hi-A” will be gone soon, all replaced by individual MiLB owners bearing the brunt of expenses.
The Mike Trout-s and Juan Soto-s will continue to bubble up; it will just be without the costs of the Dan Voggelbach.-s.
MuleorAstroMule
How is the system broken though? Owning a franchise is literally a license to print money. Baseball is still a highly profitable multi-billion sport. God forbid some of that money isn’t concentrated at the top. $15-20 mil is peanuts.
What is left out here is that excellent ball players need other ball players close to their talent to play against to improve, especially pitchers. Players can take years to develop. It’s not like football or basketball in that regard. Less competition means less talent. Fewer opportunities means less talent.
The inverse of the Juan Soto of your example is Mike Yastrzemski. Sure it took him until 27 to figure it out but would rather watch him or some scrub?
bobtillman
And who was paying Yaz (not to mention the coaches working with him) while he was undergoing his learning process? And what happened? The team that spent all the money lost him anyway.
And really, 15-20M even for MLB owners is hardly peanuts. A GM who finishes in fourth place with a 85M payroll has much more job security than one who finishes in third with an 100M payroll. 15M might not mean much to the Red Sox or Dodgers; it could very well be the difference between profit and loss for the Rays and the Pirates.
Not ALL owners are phenomenally wealthy; indeed, MLB’s problem is that you basically have the very rich and the not-so-rich, and there’s a HUGE gap between them. The Red Sox have about 650M in revenue (a ton of which they keep, BTW); the Rays have about 260M in revenue, and they wind up sharing it with vendors, landlords, etc. etc. Again, that’s a HUGE disparity that Revenue Sharing barely touches.
Granted, some of the small market guys deserve their troubles. But you can build Tampa to it’s ultimate “branding”, and you’re still not going to get the bang of Red Sox Nation, and that’s even if the Red Sox finish 62-100.
MuleorAstroMule
Owners like to talk about revenue streams, sure. They don’t like to talk about the fact their franchises double in value about every five years. You have to lose a heck of a lot of money year in and year out to negate that gain. Has there every been someone who sold a franchise who didn’t come out exponentially ahead in the deal? No team is in trouble. Some are certainly run on the cheap, and some ownership groups take issue with that. But when someone is willing to shell out 1.2 billion for the worst franchise in the sport it’s hard to view MLB as a potentially money losing enterprise.
btl05
I wouldn;t characterize the system as broken but MLB teams are finally waking up to the fact that they have been throwing away money by fielding 8-10 minor league teams each season. Frankly I’m surprised it’s taken them this long to move to a more streamlined, cost effective development plan. Sure, it stinks for minor league franchises and their loyal fans, but that’s how business is done these days. Why would baseball be any different?
LordD99
Players like Mike Trout don’t “bubble up.” They’re top prospects from the start. And what exactly is the “cost” of Dan Vogelbach and how will that be eliminated? He was a second round pick who made the majors. Are you saying Vogelbach will cease to exist and by eliminating the lower-level development leagues the majors will only be populated by Mike Trout and Juan Soto-types who will bubbling up?
Rangers29
I wonder if this covid season has made organizations rethink the way they develop players. I read an article yesterday about Texas’s top prospect Josh Jung, and Jung himself said that he has gained more out of this season than a regular single A or double A season.
DarkSide830
he might right, but to fair, he hasnt even played a full pro season yet so i dont know how much his opinion counts for here.
DarkSide830
*might be right
Rangers29
I see where you’re coming from. But to add on to what I was saying previously, the coaches think his timeline has sped up to the end of 21′. The coaches see a lot of improvement out of him too. Plus he looks almost exactly like Roger Maris, sooo he’ll hit 60 homers.
gbs42
As Darkside said, he has no frame of reference. And as a minor leaguer, he’s likely to say what his parent team wants to hear.
LordD99
How would he know what he would have gained if he played a full season of AA? How does he know what he has or hasn’t lost?
DarkSide830
i would hope too that if the move towards less affiliates but more independant teams happens these leagues will get a little more publicity. for example, i would collect independent league merchandise such as trading cards if they were more available.
bh
RIP Camden Riversharks
wild bill tetley
Majority of these rule experiments suck.
Make adjustments to keep pitchers healthy. That should be the focus. Aces breeds viewers.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
The days of old people, drunks and parents who don’t want to take out a loan to take their kids to a ballgame subsidizing MLB’s player development costs might be over.
And since the owners are too penny wise to understand the value of investing in your own product, it’s likely they will try to foist as much of the responsibility (and cost) as they can upon independent leagues and colleges.
dugmet
Actually, investing in their product – professional baseball — is exactly what they will be doing. Mets own 5 of 7 minor league franchises. Other teams own 2 – 4 for which they are paying all operating costs. Partnering with independent or development leagues probably will help to promote baseball overall. Independent teams can do quite well. For example, the independent Savannah Bananas are doing well after the Mets left for Columbia, SC.
DarkSide830
i thought you just made up a name but that’s litteraly their name. the Bananas. almost as good as the California Dogecoin.
jd396
If MLB players were almost exclusively drafted in the first 3 rounds and all teams never had trouble finding good productive players at every position… the argument that MiLB is a bloated waste of time and energy wouldn’t ring so hollow and the contraction stuff would make more sense.
joeyrocafella
The Bridgeport Bluefish are wishing they stick around a couple of extra years instead of folding.
Michael Macaulay-Birks
We have a beautiful facility here in Kissimmee Florida, used to have the Astros spring training, and then a low a affiliate “fire frogs”, Games were affordable concessions were affordable, the place is only 15 years old and they’ve improved it all along, just sitting there empty
kje76
I’m not sure Kissimmee is a good example if anything. The Fire Frogs were at the bottom of attendance in the Florida State League, so unfortunately there weren’t enough people going to the games. They only averaged about 300 fans a game last year!
Moreover, the Fire Frogs were forced to take a buyout at the threat of eviction. The county chose to make the property an MLS soccer complex over allowing the Fire Frogs to stay.
Tom1968
Good for them, now they can get better deals other than a gross of baseballs for 1 of their players
shortytallz
I am hereby announcing the totally independent ShortyTallz League, which will compete with and ultimately crush MLB.
JesseJackson
“The King of Staten Island” was a really good movie. Jed Apatow is back.
bobtillman
Again, it’s worth trying to access an MLB network GM roundtable from last year, where Atlanta’s AA bemoaned the cost of player development, and said it was issue #1 among the owners (it may shock you to know that money is more important than whether or not we start a runner on 2nd base in the 10th inning of a tie game; there isn’t an owner in the sport who gives a flip).
It’s going to shift the emphasis in scouting now from amateur scouts to “pro” scouts; you’ll see a lot more radar guns and laptops at Atlantic League games.
And again, the short season leagues bit the dust this year; shortly, most low-A and Hi-A leagues will vanish. SOME will remain; some are incredibly profitable. But, for instance, every FSL team loses money, and owners don’t like to lose money.
tim815
“the geographis reach” if baseball.
It hadn’t been a problem. Until Manfred decided to monetize everything under the sun.
Dorothy_Mantooth
Every team should be okay with 5 minor league affiliates: AAA, AA, A, gulf coast league (or the equivalent league in Arizona) and Dominican summer league teams. This would actually increase the talent levels across all teams as only the best prospects would make each roster. In order to do this, they might have to shrink the draft to 25 rounds instead of the current 40 rounds. MLB teams could ‘lend’ players to the independent leagues if need be too.
Leagues for younger kids need to stay in existence too like the Cape Cod League. It would be great if one of the independent leagues was for kids 22 or younger but I’m not sure how well that would work due to the constant roster churn. Single A ball will be much more competitive by making these changes, that’s for sure.
bot
Future home of several minor leaguers when they cut all these teams soon