MLB said to be pushing for overhall of Minor Leagues

DemDog · Post by **DemDog** » Fri Oct 18, 2019 10:04 pm

This from the NYT today

MLB Said to Be Pushing for Overhall of Minor Leagues

Sounds a lot like the NBA and their G-League arrangement. Sounds like teams in the NYPL, Midwest, Northwest Leagues would be gone or at least be owned by an MLB team. Read the article and tell me what you guys think.

A better explanation from MLBTRs

NJBucsFan · Post by **NJBucsFan** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:51 pm

Interesting but concerning. Radical restructuring for its own sake doesn't always work out well, and I'm not entirely clear what they're trying to solve for.

BenM · Post by **BenM** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 6:10 pm

52565E697F6F5A7D721C0 wrote: Interesting but concerning. Radical restructuring for its own sake doesn't always work out well, and I'm not entirely clear what they're trying to solve for.

I don't think it's for its own sake. They clearly wants more control and a reduction in overall MiLB payroll. (Although I guess they would have to buy out the owners of eliminated teams with current MLB affiliations.)

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 6:10 pm

I went back 6 years (which should allow enough time for most prospects to make it to the majors) and checked the rosters of every team in the Pirates minor league system. The majority of players never made it to MLB. I suspect that's the case for most organizations. I think teams do a lot of scouting and sign more players than they probably should just to make sure they don't miss the really good ones. But maintaining all those teams is an expense for the organizations. If there were fewer teams, scouts would have to be more selective in their signings. But it would reduce operating costs. It does seem like a luxury to have so many teams with so many players, most of whom will wash out.

mouse · Post by **mouse** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 6:33 pm

What happens to Nutting's new WVa short season team?

CTBucco · Post by **CTBucco** » Wed Oct 23, 2019 5:26 pm

775A57464150470704350 wrote: I went back 6 years (which should allow enough time for most prospects to make it to the majors) and checked the rosters of every team in the Pirates minor league system. The majority of players never made it to MLB. I suspect that's the case for most organizations. I think teams do a lot of scouting and sign more players than they probably should just to make sure they don't miss the really good ones. But maintaining all those teams is an expense for the organizations. If there were fewer teams, scouts would have to be more selective in their signings. But it would reduce operating costs. It does seem like a luxury to have so many teams with so many players, most of whom will wash out.
I’d think this is an opportunity cost calculation to determine the value of having the depth of minors that they have now. The cost side is fairly easy to determine. The benefit of finding/developing a MLB player is a little harder to calculate. But I suspect that given how relatively low the costs for MiLB teams are, you don’t need to have many players passing through a team reach the majors to justify the expense.

I wonder if this might be in response to efforts to get minor leaguers more of a living wage?

SteadyFreddy · Post by **SteadyFreddy** » Wed Oct 23, 2019 5:43 pm

It won’t shock me at all if Neal Huntington is the new president but that’s another story. Regardless of who is named the new president on Monday Bob Nutting needs to be at this press conference and answer some damn questions and grow a pair and give some explanations as to what his plans are for the future and why he made some of the decisions he did the last month or so. Also if he plans on spending money on this team like he said he would do numerous times. It’s really not hard seeing how Coonelly resigned and wanted out. I wasn’t a fan of Frank but at least he came out and answered questions and didn’t hide behind release statements like gutless Bob Nutting does time and time again. I think Coonelly finally realized it just wasn’t going to work here anymore and he was tired of trying to put a positive spin on things at the start of every season year after year when he knew deep down he wasn’t gonna win. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to do it again next season with as bad as this season turned out and I think he wanted no part of it or Nutting anymore moving forward.

mouse · Post by **mouse** » Wed Oct 23, 2019 6:21 pm

Would this rearrangement mean teams below regular season A level would be gone? What happens to Latin American players as they start the transition to the U.S.?

johnfluharty · Post by **johnfluharty** » Wed Oct 23, 2019 6:25 pm

The agreement would not eliminate the leagues that take place at the team's own complexes, such as the GCL. The other short season leagues would be gone though, players would go from the GCL or college to full season A ball.

SammyKhalifa · Post by **SammyKhalifa** » Wed Oct 23, 2019 6:44 pm

seems like this might be dangerous to some teams with as much longevity and tradition as some MLB teams