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1 hour ago, TBGKon said:

I've heard talk that the Northwest League is also possibly a 6-team league at High A, so it is possible he other three leagues at High A could go with 8 per league, or two go 8 and one goes 10.

 

If MLB is serious about cutting down on travel, they're going to want the Angels, Dodgers, Padres and Giants affiliates in the Northwest instead of the Midwest, but unfortunately there are only 6 teams and 4 spots filled (Boise/COL, Everett/SEA, Hillsboro/AZ, Vancouver/rumored OAK), the Padres and Giants are losing their teams as previously mentioned, and the other two are in the Midwest. That's why I'm wondering if two of the Pioneer teams are getting promoted instead of chopped.

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6 minutes ago, JH42XCC said:

What are the chances that Richmond drops down to High-A and join the Mid-Atlantic League along with Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, and possibly Aberdeen, Jersey Shore, and West Virginia (Morgantown)?

 

Depends on what happens in the Carolina League with Aberdeen/Frederick, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, Salem and Wilmington

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30 minutes ago, TBGKon said:

@sportsfan7 I never thought of it, but I think there's a strong possibility for Quad Cities to be cut because of the flooding issues they seem to have periodically. 

 

They're a Houston affiliate and Houston drew up the list.  The flooding totes was the issue (or more specifically the fact that improvements to the protection of a railroad meant it would be open in a flood now....completely cutting off the stadium).

Anyway, the stadium itself never floods, Davenport put a ton of money into it, and putting it on the cut list would be exhibit A when municipalities, especially in the next few years looking at what COVID's gonna do to their budgets, tell MLB to :censored: up a rope when they start complaining about a lack of VR simulators or something else stupid.

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35 minutes ago, JH42XCC said:

What are the chances that Richmond drops down to High-A and join the Mid-Atlantic League along with Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, and possibly Aberdeen, Jersey Shore, and West Virginia (Morgantown)?

The thought has crossed my mind, but too many other variable at hand.

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6 minutes ago, BigEd76 said:

 

If MLB is serious about cutting down on travel, they're going to want the Angels, Dodgers, Padres and Giants affiliates in the Northwest instead of the Midwest, but unfortunately there are only 6 teams and 4 spots filled (Boise/COL, Everett/SEA, Hillsboro/AZ, Vancouver/rumored OAK), the Padres and Giants are losing their teams as previously mentioned, and the other two are in the Midwest. That's why I'm wondering if two of the Pioneer teams are getting promoted instead of chopped.

Well, Spokane and Eugene are open. So I believe that both the Padres and Giants will be affiliating with either of those two.

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56 minutes ago, BigEd76 said:

Then what happens with the Angels and Dodgers?

My assumption is that somehow we either see an 8 team Northwest League (to match the 8 team California league) and have the West division teams minus Texas and Houston out in those leagues for High and Low A.  As someone said earlier (I believe it was you), its possible some Pioneer League teams can be added to the NWL.  Going by footprint and ballparks, the best bet might be Orem and Ogden, but even that feels like a stretch.

 

I guess its possible to have some remain in the Midwest League for high A, but not sure.

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The elevation of the Northwest League to High A status speaks to how shortsighted this grand reorganization of the minor league system has been on the part of the MLB brass.

When it comes to the quality of facilities tied to player development - clubhouses, gyms, batting/pitching cages, training/therapy facilities, meeting rooms, kitchens and dining areas - the difference between what's available in the Northwest League and what the West Coast MLB teams enjoyed at the ballparks of their former Class A Advanced affiliates (since renamed High A) is going to be obvious. There is nothing in any of the Northwest League ballparks that is going to come close to measuring up to what was on tap in those areas at Advanced A facilities in places like Lake Elsinore, Rancho Cucamonga, Inland Empire, Lancaster, and Stockton. Hell, what were formerly classified as Class A facilities in Fort Wayne, North Augusta, and Midland, Michigan blow what's on tap in the Northwest League out of the water.

According to polling of team officials conducted by the editors of Ballpark Digest in 2019, the average score on a 10-point scale with regard to the quality of player development facilities amongst all Class A Advanced minor league ballparks that season was a 6.4 rating. The average score amongst the Short Season Northwest League ballparks that are now being elevated to High A status? A 2.9 rating, with no team's facilities garnering a higher score than 3... and Boise's Memorial Stadium earning a 1. 

Rob Manfred-and-company can label the Northwest League whatever they like, but the ballparks that play host to the circuit's teams were Short Season-caliber facilities when the 2019 MiLB season ended and, unless a massive amount of work has been done to improve them in the interim, they remain Short Season facilities.

                                  

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Sure would be nice if, somehow when all this shakes out, Zephyr Stadium, "The Shrine on Airline" in suburban New Orleans could get an AA team out of it... we could go either Texas League or Southern League.



 

It is what it is.

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After doing more research, reading a few articles and attempting to fit all these pieces together, there are a few things I noticed:

-- Some of the teams on the original chopping list will definitely be saved

-- Nashville is likely being demoted to AA ... which is OK since they're a leading contender for an expansion team if/when MLB expands to 32
-- The 16-team Midwest League is about to be chopped in half
-- It's possible to do an 8-team Carolina League with 4 NC teams in the North and 4 SC teams in the South

-- The Northwest League needs to promote the three top Pioneer teams to form an 8-team league, and one of the Oregon teams on the original safe list will likely be chopped
-- I don't see Tri-City or West Virginia getting promoted from the NYPL
-- I tried to piece together a 12-team Texas League and none of the Southern or Midwest teams made sense in the Texas North, so that's going to be a 10-team league with an all-Texas South division

-- A few of these affiliates could be a coin flip for which MLB team gets them

So.....as of now, until we hear official word that a team will be affiliated or will be chopped, here's my best guess at what MiLB might look like. Just for discussion and debate, nothing official here.

AAA INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

NORTH = Buffalo (TOR), Lehigh Valley (PHI), Rochester (PIT), Scranton/WB (NYY), Syracuse (NYM), Worcester (BOS)
SOUTH = Charlotte (CWS), Durham (TB), Gwinnett (ATL), Jacksonville (MIA), Norfolk (BAL), RIchmond (WSH)
WEST = Columbus (CLE), Indianapolis (MIL), Louisville (CIN), Toledo (DET)
(Geography makes 6/5/5 tough, and yes I have Richmond being promoted to AAA with the potential of a new stadium, shifting PIT to Rochester and MIL to Indianapolis. I also tried to make this a 20-team league but a 5/5 split in the PCL was tougher than I thought.)


AAA PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE
EAST = Iowa (CHC), Memphis (STL), Oklahoma City (LAD), Omaha (KC), Round Rock (TEX), St. Paul (MIN), Sugar Land (HOU)
WEST = Albuquerque (COL), El Paso (SD), Las Vegas (OAK), Reno (AZ), Sacramento (SF), Salt Lake (LAA), Tacoma (SEA)
(I kept debating over Round Rock and Nashville, but the proximity of Round Rock and Arlington just made more sense.)
 

AA EASTERN LEAGUE

EASTERN = Binghamton (NYM), New Hampshire (TOR), Portland (BOS), Reading (PHI), Somerset (NYY)
WESTERN = Akron (CLE), Altoona (PIT), Bowie (BAL), Erie (DET), Harrisburg (WSH)

(I mentioned it earlier today, but I think Erie survives the cut if they can complete the required stadium upgrades. If not, I think Hartford gets this spot and Reading moves to the Western.)
 

AA SOUTHERN LEAGUE

NORTH = Bowling Green (KC), Chattanooga (CIN), Nashville (TEX), Rocket City (MIN), Tennessee (CHC)
SOUTH = Biloxi (MIL), Birmingham (CWS), Mississippi (ATL), Montgomery (TB), Pensacola (MIA)

(Another surprise! I have Chattanooga surviving the cut. I also have Bowling Green getting promoted from the Midwest, Nashville dropping here from AAA, and with no other real options available, I put the Twins in Madison AL.)
 

AA TEXAS LEAGUE

NORTH = Arkansas (W), Northwest Arkansas (W), Springfield (STL), Tulsa (LAD), Wichita (W)
SOUTH = Amarillo (W), Corpus Christi (HOU), Frisco (W), Midland (W), San Antonio (W)

(The South is all Texas. The seven Ws are the West teams without assigned affiliates (AZ, COL, LAA, OAK, SD, SF, SEA).)

HIGH-A MID-ATLANTIC LEAGUE

Aberdeen (BAL), Brooklyn (NYM), Hartford (BOS), Hudson Valley (NYY), Jersey Shore (PHI), Wilmington (TOR)

(With a numbers crunch in the EL, I have Hartford falling to high-A, but as mentioned earlier, they could return to EL if Erie is chopped. I also have Wilmington joining this league since Carolina is projected to be all-Carolinas, but if they don't get promoted, they'll end up in the SAL instead. I gave Hartford to the Red Sox for geography reasons but Toronto could also end up here, with Wilmington getting the leftover.)

 

HIGH-A CAROLINA LEAGUE

NORTHERN = Carolina (MIL), Down East (TEX), Fayetteville (HOU), Winston-Salem (CWS)
SOUTHERN = Charleston (E), Columbia (E), Greenville (E), Myrtle Beach (E)
(The Northern is all North Carolina (and all owned affiliates), while the Southern is all South Carolina with the promotion of Charleston and Columbia from SAL. The four Es are the East teams without affiliates (ATL, MIA, TB and WSH), although I see the Braves getting Columbia and the Nationals getting Greenville due to geography.)

 

HIGH-A MIDWEST LEAGUE

EASTERN = Dayton (CIN), Lake County (CLE), Lansing (DET), West Michigan (PIT)
WESTERN = Fort Wayne (KC), Kane County (CHC), Peoria (STL), {Cedar Rapids OR Quad Cities} (MIN)
(A much smaller league than before. I went with geography and stadium sizes for this one and wasn't sure which Iowa team would survive and which would be cut. I also have Great Lakes, South Bend and Wisconsin getting cut even though they were safe on the rumored list.)

 

HIGH-A NORTHWEST LEAGUE

EAST = Boise (W), Grand Junction (COL), Ogden (LAD), Rocky Mountain (W)
WEST = Everett (SEA), Hillsboro (AZ), Spokane (W), Vancouver (OAK)
(To get this league from six teams back to eight, I saved Grand Junction, Ogden and Colorado Springs from the Pioneer League, then in a numbers crunch, I kept Hillsboro over Eugene due to their proximity to Portland. The three Ws are the West teams without affiliates (LAA, SD, SF).)

 

LOW-A SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE

NORTHERN = Delmarva (BAL), Fredericksburg (WSH), Lexington (KC), Lynchburg (CLE), Salem (BOS), West Virginia (CIN)
SOUTHERN = Asheville (HOU), Augusta (CHC), Greensboro (MIL), Hickory (TEX), Kannapolis (CWS), Rome (ATL)

(This league had to be 12 teams since the other two combined for 18, so I borrowed teams from the Carolina League that didn't make the cut, and I also kept Lexington and the Charleston WV (not the rumored safe NYPL one). The Southern is made up of only North Carolina and Georgia teams, and the Cubs, Astros and Brewers assignments were simply for geography reasons and can be switched up. If Lexington doesn't survive the cut, Wilmington ends up here, assuming they aren't promoted to the Mid-Atlantic League.)

 

LOW-A FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE

NORTHWEST = Clearwater (PHI), Dunedin (TOR), Lakeland (DET), Tampa (NYY)
SOUTHWEST = Bradenton (PIT), Charlotte (TB), Fort Myers (MIN)
SOUTHEAST = Jupiter (MIA), Palm Beach (STL), St. Lucie (NYM)
(This was an easy one since they're all spring training complexes, and I could see this being one division since the geography doesn't work for a 5/5 split.)
 

LOW-A CALIFORNIA LEAGUE

NORTH = Fresno (COL), Modesto (SEA), San Jose (SF), Stockton (OAK)
SOUTH = Inland Empire (LAA), Lake Elsinore (SD), Rancho Cucamonga (LAD), Visalia (AZ)
(Another easy one as the demoted Fresno replaces Lancaster and goes in the North, bumping Visalia to the South (which stinks for them since they're closer to the North teams than the South ones).)

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I really hope every community affected by this reorganization remembers what is happening right now when baseball tries to pass the hat in a couple years after announcing MLB expansion plans, requiring eight more MILB teams (and accompanying modern facilities).

 

It's going to be the most depressing manipulation of civic pride and dumb local politicians for the biggest grift since Shelbyville's monorail convinced Springfield's citizens to open their own pursestrings.

 

 

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12 hours ago, BigEd76 said:

After doing more research, reading a few articles and attempting to fit all these pieces together, there are a few things I noticed:

-- Some of the teams on the original chopping list will definitely be saved

-- Nashville is likely being demoted to AA ... which is OK since they're a leading contender for an expansion team if/when MLB expands to 32
-- The 16-team Midwest League is about to be chopped in half
-- It's possible to do an 8-team Carolina League with 4 NC teams in the North and 4 SC teams in the South

-- The Northwest League needs to promote the three top Pioneer teams to form an 8-team league, and one of the Oregon teams on the original safe list will likely be chopped
-- I don't see Tri-City or West Virginia getting promoted from the NYPL
-- I tried to piece together a 12-team Texas League and none of the Southern or Midwest teams made sense in the Texas North, so that's going to be a 10-team league with an all-Texas South division

-- A few of these affiliates could be a coin flip for which MLB team gets them

So.....as of now, until we hear official word that a team will be affiliated or will be chopped, here's my best guess at what MiLB might look like. Just for discussion and debate, nothing official here.

AAA INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

NORTH = Buffalo (TOR), Lehigh Valley (PHI), Rochester (PIT), Scranton/WB (NYY), Syracuse (NYM), Worcester (BOS)
SOUTH = Charlotte (CWS), Durham (TB), Gwinnett (ATL), Jacksonville (MIA), Norfolk (BAL), RIchmond (WSH)
WEST = Columbus (CLE), Indianapolis (MIL), Louisville (CIN), Toledo (DET)
(Geography makes 6/5/5 tough, and yes I have Richmond being promoted to AAA with the potential of a new stadium, shifting PIT to Rochester and MIL to Indianapolis. I also tried to make this a 20-team league but a 5/5 split in the PCL was tougher than I thought.)


AAA PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE
EAST = Iowa (CHC), Memphis (STL), Oklahoma City (LAD), Omaha (KC), Round Rock (TEX), St. Paul (MIN), Sugar Land (HOU)
WEST = Albuquerque (COL), El Paso (SD), Las Vegas (OAK), Reno (AZ), Sacramento (SF), Salt Lake (LAA), Tacoma (SEA)
(I kept debating over Round Rock and Nashville, but the proximity of Round Rock and Arlington just made more sense.)
 

AA EASTERN LEAGUE

EASTERN = Binghamton (NYM), New Hampshire (TOR), Portland (BOS), Reading (PHI), Somerset (NYY)
WESTERN = Akron (CLE), Altoona (PIT), Bowie (BAL), Erie (DET), Harrisburg (WSH)

(I mentioned it earlier today, but I think Erie survives the cut if they can complete the required stadium upgrades. If not, I think Hartford gets this spot and Reading moves to the Western.)
 

AA SOUTHERN LEAGUE

NORTH = Bowling Green (KC), Chattanooga (CIN), Nashville (TEX), Rocket City (MIN), Tennessee (CHC)
SOUTH = Biloxi (MIL), Birmingham (CWS), Mississippi (ATL), Montgomery (TB), Pensacola (MIA)

(Another surprise! I have Chattanooga surviving the cut. I also have Bowling Green getting promoted from the Midwest, Nashville dropping here from AAA, and with no other real options available, I put the Twins in Madison AL.)
 

AA TEXAS LEAGUE

NORTH = Arkansas (W), Northwest Arkansas (W), Springfield (STL), Tulsa (LAD), Wichita (W)
SOUTH = Amarillo (W), Corpus Christi (HOU), Frisco (W), Midland (W), San Antonio (W)

(The South is all Texas. The seven Ws are the West teams without assigned affiliates (AZ, COL, LAA, OAK, SD, SF, SEA).)

HIGH-A MID-ATLANTIC LEAGUE

Aberdeen (BAL), Brooklyn (NYM), Hartford (BOS), Hudson Valley (NYY), Jersey Shore (PHI), Wilmington (TOR)

(With a numbers crunch in the EL, I have Hartford falling to high-A, but as mentioned earlier, they could return to EL if Erie is chopped. I also have Wilmington joining this league since Carolina is projected to be all-Carolinas, but if they don't get promoted, they'll end up in the SAL instead. I gave Hartford to the Red Sox for geography reasons but Toronto could also end up here, with Wilmington getting the leftover.)

 

HIGH-A CAROLINA LEAGUE

NORTHERN = Carolina (MIL), Down East (TEX), Fayetteville (HOU), Winston-Salem (CWS)
SOUTHERN = Charleston (E), Columbia (E), Greenville (E), Myrtle Beach (E)
(The Northern is all North Carolina (and all owned affiliates), while the Southern is all South Carolina with the promotion of Charleston and Columbia from SAL. The four Es are the East teams without affiliates (ATL, MIA, TB and WSH), although I see the Braves getting Columbia and the Nationals getting Greenville due to geography.)

 

HIGH-A MIDWEST LEAGUE

EASTERN = Dayton (CIN), Lake County (CLE), Lansing (DET), West Michigan (PIT)
WESTERN = Fort Wayne (KC), Kane County (CHC), Peoria (STL), {Cedar Rapids OR Quad Cities} (MIN)
(A much smaller league than before. I went with geography and stadium sizes for this one and wasn't sure which Iowa team would survive and which would be cut. I also have Great Lakes, South Bend and Wisconsin getting cut even though they were safe on the rumored list.)

 

HIGH-A NORTHWEST LEAGUE

EAST = Boise (W), Grand Junction (COL), Ogden (LAD), Rocky Mountain (W)
WEST = Everett (SEA), Hillsboro (AZ), Spokane (W), Vancouver (OAK)
(To get this league from six teams back to eight, I saved Grand Junction, Ogden and Colorado Springs from the Pioneer League, then in a numbers crunch, I kept Hillsboro over Eugene due to their proximity to Portland. The three Ws are the West teams without affiliates (LAA, SD, SF).)

 

LOW-A SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE

NORTHERN = Delmarva (BAL), Fredericksburg (WSH), Lexington (KC), Lynchburg (CLE), Salem (BOS), West Virginia (CIN)
SOUTHERN = Asheville (HOU), Augusta (CHC), Greensboro (MIL), Hickory (TEX), Kannapolis (CWS), Rome (ATL)

(This league had to be 12 teams since the other two combined for 18, so I borrowed teams from the Carolina League that didn't make the cut, and I also kept Lexington and the Charleston WV (not the rumored safe NYPL one). The Southern is made up of only North Carolina and Georgia teams, and the Cubs, Astros and Brewers assignments were simply for geography reasons and can be switched up. If Lexington doesn't survive the cut, Wilmington ends up here, assuming they aren't promoted to the Mid-Atlantic League.)

 

LOW-A FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE

NORTHWEST = Clearwater (PHI), Dunedin (TOR), Lakeland (DET), Tampa (NYY)
SOUTHWEST = Bradenton (PIT), Charlotte (TB), Fort Myers (MIN)
SOUTHEAST = Jupiter (MIA), Palm Beach (STL), St. Lucie (NYM)
(This was an easy one since they're all spring training complexes, and I could see this being one division since the geography doesn't work for a 5/5 split.)
 

LOW-A CALIFORNIA LEAGUE

NORTH = Fresno (COL), Modesto (SEA), San Jose (SF), Stockton (OAK)
SOUTH = Inland Empire (LAA), Lake Elsinore (SD), Rancho Cucamonga (LAD), Visalia (AZ)
(Another easy one as the demoted Fresno replaces Lancaster and goes in the North, bumping Visalia to the South (which stinks for them since they're closer to the North teams than the South ones).)

 

I find it hard to believe that the Rangers would choose Nashville over Frisco as their AA Affiliate.  Frisco is in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and 30 minutes from Arlington, where the Rangers play.  Frisco makes sense geographically.  Texas is only going to have one AA team that will be Frisco, not Nashville

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4 minutes ago, monkeypower said:

As, ahem, part-owner of the Timber Rattlers, I don't like all this talk of them potentially being cut.

So, there's been no word at all from MLB? This is like a rumored mass layoff at a big company but nobody knows which Friday it's coming.

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30 minutes ago, schlim said:

So, there's been no word at all from MLB? This is like a rumored mass layoff at a big company but nobody knows which Friday it's coming.

 

I don't know, they're a community owned team and I bought one (1) share when they were up for sale back in March/April, just because I thought it would be a neat thing to have and be able to call myself a MiLB part-owner.

 

But in all seriousness, I haven't gotten any emails or anything like that from the team (or like the majority owner/board) talking about anything related to the reorganization. The annual meeting and the things I have to vote on happen in February IIRC, so maybe there will be something then.

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1 hour ago, BigEd76 said:

I did it that way because the seven West teams need to be placed into the Texas League and the Cardinals can't be moved to the Southern

 

Yeah but the Texas Rangers' AA Affiliate isn't going to be Nashville, not when there's the Frisco Roughriders.

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2 hours ago, monkeypower said:

As, ahem, part-owner of the Timber Rattlers, I don't like all this talk of them potentially being cut.

I know this is tongue-in-cheek, but sincethe Brewers ran their "players not on the roster stay here" site in Appleton this year, I would assume the Brewers would push to keep that location at SOME level.

It's where I sit.

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21 minutes ago, Sec19Row53 said:

I know this is tongue-in-cheek, but sincethe Brewers ran their "players not on the roster stay here" site in Appleton this year, I would assume the Brewers would push to keep that location at SOME level.

 

Yeah, I would think the Brewers would like to keep them around, especially since it's so close to Milwaukee. It's also where they do their rehab assignments

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