Seadragon76 857 Posted October 19, 2019 10 hours ago, buzzcut said: I actually saw a report on ballparkdigest.com saying that a PCL team is being targeted for a move to St. Paul and that some short season clubs, like the whole Northwest League may become full season operations. I knew I missed something when you mentioned the Northwest League moving from short season play to full season play. I should explain how this would works. Triple A The article I read mentioned that the PCL would be a 10 team league and the IL would be 20 teams. It made it simple for me: The six teams north of Texas (Iowa, Memphis, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Omaha and Wichita) move to the IL. Now comes the hard part and one I didn't add in because in my original plan, St. Paul was going to be in the Class A Midwest League as a relocation of a current team in that league. Now? Well.. oh boy. I don't want to move a current PCL team because it would ruin the geographic plan. So, why not get rid of Wichita and put it St. Paul in their place in the IL? Double A The Eastern League has no changes, but the Southern League loses two teams. Those teams were Jackson and Mississippi. Why those two? No reason. Those two teams move to the Texas League. The Jackson franchise moves to Shreveport, where they had a team in the Texas League until 2002 when they moved to Frisco. Mississippi now becomes the new Sugar Land team. High Single A No changes here. Low Single A This is where most of the chaos would be located. The South Atlantic League becomes a 6 team league while the remaining members form a brand new Mid-Atlantic League. The Midwest League would shrink from 16 teams to 8. The other 8 teams would be the new full season Northwest League. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wings 2,142 Posted October 19, 2019 If the San Antonio Missions can't get a new ballpark built could they be on the move to St. Paul even though they recently just relocated from Colorado Springs? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian in Boston 2,532 Posted October 19, 2019 2 hours ago, Seadragon76 said: So, why not get rid of Wichita and put it St. Paul in their place in the IL? Because the City of Wichita has recently spent $75 million in public money to construct a brand new ballpark with the promise that a Triple A franchise would be setting up shop in the municipality, that's why. It's wonderful that the powers-that-be at Major League Baseball headquarters and amongst the individual owners of the big league franchises have come up with this visionary plan for how they see affiliated minor league baseball being structured moving forward. That said, they'd better hope that they have all of their minor league affiliates ensconced in newly-built and/or significantly-renovated ballparks from the get-go of implementing said plan. Why? Because, after they've unceremoniously shifted the teams in some markets to lower classifications of competition - or, abandoned said cities altogether - they're going to have an awfully tough time convincing government entities to fork over significant amounts of public funding for new ballparks in the future. The optics surrounding the public subsidization of privately-held sports franchises through the construction of arenas, ballparks, and stadiums for said teams is bad enough as it is. Leave it to the suits at MLB to come up with a way to make it look even worse."Listen, we know you rubes just forked over $75 million for a ballpark thinkin' that you'd land a Triple A team, but the owners of our Minnesota franchise are fixated on havin' their top farmhands just a 20-minute, 12 1/2-mile drive away. Plus, the wacky bastards runnin' the independent team in the market we were eyeballin' outdrew 23 of the 30 affiliated Triple A teams last season! I mean, if you can't beat 'em, have 'em join ya!!! No hard feelings, right? Anyway... we're gonna try to set you folks up with somethin' else. Double A, Single A... it's a little up in the air right now. We'll get back to ya... maybe. In the meantime, I hear the American Association is looking for a market." 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Seadragon76 857 Posted October 19, 2019 Aw, crap... Well, thanks to that, I'd have to pick another team for St. Paul to replace. Maybe Nashville??? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Walk-Off 155 Posted October 19, 2019 The International League Charlotte Knights' BB&T Ballpark has been in operation "only" since 2014, and the Pacific Coast League Nashville Sounds' First Tennessee (soon to be First Horizon) Park dates back "only" to 2015. For that combined reason, a Major League Baseball franchise for Charlotte or Nashville would have to be very set in stone before I would regard a move of that city's respective minor-league club to St. Paul as being justifiable. Otherwise, assuming that the major leagues are not expanding at that moment -- which would need to happen before the minor leagues in general have their own expansion -- and the Charlotte or Nashville MLB club is thus the result of a relocation, a St. Paul Class AAA team might as well come at the expense of Fresno (if the relocating team must be in the PCL) or a still-population-losing and still-economically-depressed area in the Great Lakes region, the Mid-Atlantic, or the Northeast (if an IL club can be moved to St. Paul). 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fitzy0220 202 Posted October 19, 2019 On 3/22/2010 at 9:08 AM, BringBackTheVet said: Everyone wants to think that their team has at least an outside shot of winning a championship when the season starts. There's always a few surprise teams, and even fans in Pittsburgh have to have some hope (at least on opening day) that this can be their year. Having an A and B league effectively eliminates half of the league before the season even starts, making it unlikely that people are going to turn out, even in the beginning. Why would I want to go to games for what is effectively a minor league team? To piggy back off of what you said. You'd also have to have Owners that are willing to Spend money in order to Get Better and Compete (to move up into the "A" League). bob nutting cares not for spending money to improve his team, so what's to say he'd give 2 :censored:s IF the Pirates never competed in the "A" League 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buzzcut 278 Posted October 20, 2019 The St. Paul Saints' reaction to all this? It's news to us. https://twitter.com/AA_Baseball/status/1185721261042724872 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buzzcut 278 Posted October 20, 2019 Someone on another forum did a quick calculation on who would be cut in a contraction of the minor leagues: -- Staten Island (NYY) and Brooklyn (NYM) would likely be the two NYPL teams moving up to the AA Eastern League -- Aberdeen (BAL) would likely be the NYPL team moving to the high-A Carolina League -- If you sort all 160 current affected teams, the top 120 (the projected cutoff point) would all have a minimum of 5000 seats at their stadiums. The two independent teams (St. Paul and Sugar Land) have capacities of 7000-7500 -- All 10 teams in the Appalachian League are in the danger zone, having capacities of 4000 or less, but 7 of those 10 teams are owned by their MLB affiliates -- The other Rookie-Adv level league, the Pioneer League, currently has 5 out of 8 teams in the safety zone (including Colorado-owned Grand Junction), but 2 of those 5 would be bumped out by the two independents -- High-A Carolina League would have 3 teams in trouble (Down East (TEX owned), Fayetteville (HOU owned), Lynchburg) -- High-A Florida State League would have 1 team in trouble (Daytona) -- High-A California League would have 3 teams in trouble (Modesto (SEA owned), San Jose (SF owned), Visalia) -- Low-A South Atlantic League would have 3 teams in trouble (Asheville, Hagerstown, Kannapolis) -- Low-A Midwest League would have 3 teams in trouble (Beloit, Bowling Green, Burlington) 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rams80 4,215 Posted October 21, 2019 Midwest League: No surprise on Beloit (ancient stadium that's been repeatedly been a concern) and Burlington (smallest market in full-season affilated ball, although I enjoyed the doubleheader I took in there a few years back) Bowling Green though? I guess its a small market and kind of on an island.for travel, but that's only a 10-year old stadium, in a place where they might still resort to tar and feathers. Might want to send some MBA you secretly hate in your organization to drop the boom there. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian in Boston 2,532 Posted October 21, 2019 On 10/20/2019 at 7:02 AM, buzzcut said: Someone on another forum did a quick calculation on who would be cut in a contraction of the minor leagues: -- High-A Carolina League would have 3 teams in trouble (Down East (TEX owned), Fayetteville (HOU owned), Lynchburg) -- Low-A South Atlantic League would have 3 teams in trouble (Asheville, Hagerstown, Kannapolis) -- Low-A Midwest League would have 3 teams in trouble (Beloit, Bowling Green, Burlington) If Major League Baseball's grand reorganization of the affiliated minor leagues comes to pass, the civic leaders in Kinston (NC) - home to the Down East Wood Ducks - will feel relatively lucky if their team is eliminated. After all, the $1.6 million that the City of Kinston spent in 2017 and 2018 to upgrade Grainger Stadium's grandstand, outfield walls, lighting and parking lots in order to lure a Texas Rangers Class A-Advanced farm team to town will seem like a pittance compared to the sums wasted - pardon "invested" - by Bowling Green (KY), Fayetteville (NC) and Kannapolis (NC) in their respective quests to host an MLB-affilated minor league team. * The City of Bowling Green spent $28 million in 2008 ($33.4 million when adjusted for inflation) in order to build Bowling Green Ballpark and land a Class A Midwest League franchise. * The City of Fayetteville spent $38 million in 2017 ($39.6 million today) to construct Segra Stadium and draw a Class A-Advanced Carolina League squad to the community. * The City of Kannapolis spent $6.8 million in 1995 ($11.5 million adjusted for inflation) to build the current home of the municipality's Class A South Atlantic League team, plus another $52 million to construct the brand new ballpark that the franchise will move into next year. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RichO 548 Posted October 21, 2019 And keep in mind within this concept that MLB a lot of these "leftover" teams will end up in the "Dream League" pool where undrafted players would play. Which is also, itself would be a pretty firm attack on Indy ball as it exists now. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian in Boston 2,532 Posted October 21, 2019 It's beyond a shame that so many communities have fallen sway to the siren song of landing an affiliated minor league baseball team and committed public monies to the construction of ballparks that primarily benefit privately-held franchises. Worse still that the MLB parent clubs have, through the MiLB facility standards that they've insisted upon, pitted communities against one another in a ceaseless race to keep, or secure, an affiliated farm team. All of that said, its unconscionable that the powers-that-be in MLB would so callously advocate for the elimination of affiliated teams in markets - such as those I cited up-thread - where millions of dollars in public funding have fairly recently been spent to either upgrade existing ballparks or build brand new ones. Frankly, I'd love to see professional baseball's antitrust exemption be given a thorough examination by the Congressional delegations from the states/districts which will be significantly impacted by MLB's proposed reorganization of affiliated minor league ball. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wings 2,142 Posted October 22, 2019 Most of us think MLS will eventually grow to 40 clubs but I'm going with a 36 club alignment. 3 conferences with 12 clubs each. Top 16 make the playoffs by record. Seeded 1 through 16 in a single elimination tournament. EAST Toronto Montreal New England NYCFC NY Red Bulls Philadelphia DC United Charlotte Atlanta Orlando Tampa Bay (only if Rays sell) Miami CENTRAL Austin Dallas Houston Kansas City St. Louis Minnesota Chicago Indianapolis Nashville Cincinnati Columbus Detroit WEST Vancouver Seattle Portland Sacramento San Jose LAFC LA Galaxy San Diego Las Vegas Phoenix Salt Lake Colorado 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QCS 2,326 Posted October 25, 2019 On 10/20/2019 at 10:02 AM, buzzcut said: Someone on another forum did a quick calculation on who would be cut in a contraction of the minor leagues: -- Staten Island (NYY) and Brooklyn (NYM) would likely be the two NYPL teams moving up to the AA Eastern League -- Aberdeen (BAL) would likely be the NYPL team moving to the high-A Carolina League -- If you sort all 160 current affected teams, the top 120 (the projected cutoff point) would all have a minimum of 5000 seats at their stadiums. The two independent teams (St. Paul and Sugar Land) have capacities of 7000-7500 -- All 10 teams in the Appalachian League are in the danger zone, having capacities of 4000 or less, but 7 of those 10 teams are owned by their MLB affiliates -- The other Rookie-Adv level league, the Pioneer League, currently has 5 out of 8 teams in the safety zone (including Colorado-owned Grand Junction), but 2 of those 5 would be bumped out by the two independents -- High-A Carolina League would have 3 teams in trouble (Down East (TEX owned), Fayetteville (HOU owned), Lynchburg) -- High-A Florida State League would have 1 team in trouble (Daytona) -- High-A California League would have 3 teams in trouble (Modesto (SEA owned), San Jose (SF owned), Visalia) -- Low-A South Atlantic League would have 3 teams in trouble (Asheville, Hagerstown, Kannapolis) -- Low-A Midwest League would have 3 teams in trouble (Beloit, Bowling Green, Burlington) I really hope the Tourists would stay. I go to games every so often when I visit my grandparents and McCormick Field is a beautiful stadium, and from what I can tell the team isn't doing awful attendance-wise. Hopefully we lose zero teams, but if this does happen, North Carolina baseball would be in trouble (5 of those teams you listed are from the Tar Heel State, being Down East, Fayetteville, Asheville, Kannapolis, and Burlington). 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neo_prankster 3,371 Posted October 29, 2019 Neo's World of Sports Built from Scratch (A work in progress; Could be a preview of a future concept series) BASEBALL League A EAST Atlanta Boston Cleveland Detroit New York Philadelphia Toronto Washington WEST Chicago Dallas Los Angeles Milwaukee Minnesota San Francisco Seattle St Louis League B EAST Baltimore Brooklyn Charlotte (or Louisville) Cincinnati (or Louisville) Miami (or Louisville) Montreal Nashville (or Louisville) Pittsburgh WEST Anaheim (or PDX/Vegas) Denver Houston Kansas City Oakland (or PDX/Vegas) Phoenix (or PDX/Vegas) San Diego Vancouver BASKETBALL Western Conference Pacific Division Los Angeles Phoenix Portland Sacramento (or Las Vegas) San Diego (or Las Vegas) San Francisco Seattle Vancouver Midwest Division Dallas Denver Houston Kansas City New Orleans Salt Lake City San Antonio St Louis Eastern Conference Central Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Kentucky Milwaukee Minnesota Toronto (or Buffalo) Atlantic Division Atlanta Boston Charlotte Miami New York Orlando Philadelphia Washington, DC BOX LACROSSE Atlantic Atlanta Baltimore Carolina New York Orlando Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington Northeast Buffalo Cleveland Hamilton Montreal New England Ottawa Rochester (or Albany) Toronto Central Chicago Dallas Detroit Houston Milwaukee Minnesota Saskatchewan Winnipeg Pacific Calgary Denver Edmonton Los Angeles Portland San Francisco Seattle Vancouver GRIDIRON FOOTBALL (Spring) International (or World) Conference European East Eligible Cities (5 Slots) - Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Berlin, Germany - Brussels, Belgium - Dusseldorf, Germany - Frankfurt am Main, Germany - Milan, Italy - Rome, Italy - Stockholm, Sweden - Vienna, Austria European West Eligible Cities (5 Slots) - Barcelona, Spain - Dublin, Ireland - Edinburgh, Scotland - Glasgow, Scotland - London, England - Madrid, Spain - Manchester, England - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Paris, France Canadian East Eligible Cities (5 Slots) - Halifax, Nova Scotia - Hamilton, Ontario - Moncton, New Brunswick - Montreal, Quebec - Ottawa, Ontario - Quebec City, Quebec - Toronto, Ontario Canadian West Eligible Cities (5 Slots) - Anchorage, Alaska - Calgary, Alberta - Edmonton, Alberta - Regina, Saskatchewan - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Vancouver, British Columbia - Winnipeg, Manitoba United States Conference Atlantic Eligible Cities (5 Slots) - Baltimore, Maryland - Boston, Massachusetts - Brooklyn, New York - Buffalo, New York - Hartford, Connecticut - New York City - Norfolk, Virginia - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Providence, Rhode Island - Rochester, New York - Virginia Beach, Virginia - Washington, DC Southern Eligible Cities (5 Slots) - Birmingham, Alabama - Charlotte, North Carolina - Jacksonville, Florida - Louisville, Kentucky - Memphis, Tennessee - Nashville, Tennessee - New Orleans, Louisiana - Orlando, Florida - Raleigh, North Carolina - Shreveport, Louisiana - St Petersburg, Florida - Tampa, Florida Central Eligible Cities (5 Slots) - Austin, Texas - Chicago, Illinois - Columbus, Ohio - Dallas, Texas - Detroit, Michigan - Fargo, North Dakota - Houston, Texas - Indianapolis, Indiana - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Omaha, Nebraska - San Antonio, Texas - Tulsa, Oklahoma Pacific Eligible Cities (5 Slots) - Albuquerque, New Mexico - Anaheim, California - Boise, Idaho - Las Vegas, Nevada - Los Angeles, California - Oakland, California - Portland, Oregon - Sacramento, California - Salt Lake City, Utah - San Jose, California - Tucson, Arizona GRIDIRON FOOTBALL (Fall) East Eligible Cities: 5 Slots in Conference A; 5 Slots in Conference B - Atlantic City, New Jersey - Baltimore, Maryland - Boston, Massachusetts - Brooklyn, New York - Buffalo, New York - Hartford, Connecticut - New York City - Norfolk, Virginia - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Providence, Rhode Island - Washington, DC North Eligible Cities: 5 Slots in Conference A; 5 Slots in Conference B - Chicago, Illinois - Cincinnati, Ohio - Cleveland, Ohio - Columbus, Ohio - Detroit, Michigan - Green Bay, Wisconsin - Indianapolis, Indiana - Kansas City, Missouri - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Minneapolis, Minnesota - Omaha, Nebraska - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - St Louis, Missouri South Eligible Cities: 5 Slots in Conference A; 5 Slots in Conference B - Atlanta, Georgia - Charlotte, North Carolina - Dallas, Texas - Jacksonville, Florida - Houston, Texas - Louisville, Kentucky - Kansas City, Missouri - Memphis, Tennessee - Miami, Florida - Nashville, Tennessee - New Orleans, Louisiana - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Orlando, Florida - San Antonio, Texas - St Louis, Missouri - Tampa, Florida West Eligible Cities: 5 Slots in Conference A; 5 Slots in Conference B - Albuquerque, New Mexico - Anaheim, California - Denver, Colorado - Las Vegas, Nevada - Los Angeles, California - Oakland, California - Phoenix, Arizona - Portland, Oregon - Sacramento, California - Salt Lake City, Utah - San Diego, California - San Francisco, California - San Jose, California - Seattle, Washington ICE HOCKEY Pacific Division Calgary Denver Edmonton Los Angeles Portland San Jose Seattle Vancouver Central Division Chicago Dallas Houston Kansas City Milwaukee Minnesota St Louis Winnipeg Northeast Division Buffalo Detroit Hamilton Indianapolis Montreal Ottawa Quebec City Toronto Atlantic Division Boston Charlotte Cleveland New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh Tampa Bay Washington, DC OUTDOOR SOCCER Eastern Conference Atlanta Charlotte Chicago Columbus Louisville Montreal New England New Jersey New York Philadelphia Rochester Tampa Bay Toronto Washington, DC Western Conference Dallas Denver Houston Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Minnesota Portland Salt Lake City San Diego San Jose Seattle Vancouver C&C Welcome. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RyanMcD29 763 Posted October 30, 2019 I discovered you can do a full NCAA Basketball conference of schools that are in towns or cities with a Wegmans. Introducing THE WEGMANS CONFERENCE, and no, it's not even all Upstate NY like my throwaway AHL gag* Buffalo Canisius Niagara Cornell Syracuse Binghamton LIU (Brooklyn) Penn State Lehigh BC Princeton UVA George Mason NC State and future realignment/expansion members Navy UNC American/Georgetown The Orange totally getting a bubble NCAA Tournament bid off an unspectacular run in this conference magnified by a loss at Canisius and a 4 point squeaker against Lehigh. (*because Utica marks the Wegmans/Price Chopper divide in supermarkets in Upstate NY) 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joke Insurance 18 Posted October 30, 2019 I recall also reading that some MILB teams could become more geographically aligned with their big league counterpart. If this is the case, who can you see being moved around and to where? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JH42XCC 216 Posted November 10, 2019 My idea of what a 32-Team MLB would look like: AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Charlotte Knights (EXPANSION) Cleveland Indians Detroit Tigers New York Yankees Tampa Bay Rays Toronto Blue Jays WEST Chicago White Sox Houston Astros Kansas City Royals Los Angeles/Long Beach/Anaheim Angels Minnesota Twins Oakland A's Seattle Mariners Texas Rangers NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST Atlanta Braves Cincinnati Reds Miami Marlins Montreal Expos (EXPANSION) New York Mets Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates Washington Nationals WEST Arizona Diamondbacks Chicago Cubs Colorado Rockies Los Angeles Dodgers Milwaukee Brewers St. Louis Cardinals San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buzzcut 278 Posted November 19, 2019 (edited) In light of the leaking of the list of the 42 teams targeted for elimination from Minor League Baseball, I have worked out a potential alignment of MiLB's New World Order. Some of it is simple, some very complex: AAA International League Buffalo, Lehigh Valley, Rochester, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Syracuse, Worcester Charlotte, Durham, Gwinnett, Norfolk Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville. Memphis, Nashville, Toledo Iowa, Omaha, St. Paul, Wichita Pacific Coast League Albuquerque, El Paso, Oklahoma City, Round Rock, San Antonio Las Vegas, Reno, Sacramento, Salt Lake, Tacoma AA Eastern League Akron, Altoona, Bowie, Brooklyn, Dayton, Harrisburg, Hartford, New Hampshire, Portland, Reading, Trenton, West Michigan Southern League Arkansas, Biloxi, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Mississippi, Montgomery, Pensacola, Richmond, Rocket City, Tennessee Texas League Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Frisco, Midland, NW Arkansas, Springfield MO, Sugarland, Tulsa High-A California League Fresno, Lake Elsinore, Modesto, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, San Jose, Stockton, Visalia Carolina League Aberdeen, Asheville, Carolina, Down East, Fayetteville, Fredericksburg, Greensboro, Hickory, Kannapolis, Lynchburg, Salem, Winston-Salem Florida State League Bradenton, Charlotte, Clearwater, Dunedin, Fort Myers, Jupiter, Lakeland, Palm Beach, St. Lucie. Tampa Low-A Midwest League Beloit or Quad Cities, Bowling Green, Cedar Rapids, Fort Wayne, Great Lakes, Kane County, Lansing, Peoria, South Bend, Wiscnsin New York-Penn League(For lack of better options) Delmarva, Hudson Valley, Lake County, Lakewood, Staten Island, Tri-City(NY), West Virginia Black Bears, Wilmington Northwest League Boise, Eugene, Everett, Hillsboro, Spokane, Vancouver South Atlantic League Augusta, Charleston(SC), Columbia, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Rome Any suggestions, thoughts, and/or blind rage at my realignment? Edited November 20, 2019 by buzzcut Further revisions. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sportsfan7 410 Posted November 22, 2019 On 11/18/2019 at 10:26 PM, buzzcut said: New York-Penn League(For lack of better options) Mid-Atlantic League? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
