Just out of curiosity, what would happen if this agreement were to lapse? Would no minor league games take place? Would the minor league teams get players from the independent leagues?
@Plank: The minors would act independently of MLB. So the New Britain Rock Cats would need to sign their own players, and compete as a team rather than just develop players for someone else. The minors would compete with the majors for players, and they would also make money by selling and trading players to the majors. It would be like it was in the early days of the professional game.
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Plank
Seems like they are pretty entwined at this point. The next step I see happening (which is already happening a lot) is the major league teams owning all their minor league affiliates outright.
@Plank: You’re probably right. It would be nice to have competitive minor leagues, however.
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Plank
I know this is a non-starter, but I wish baseball had a system like English soccer. The bottom teams move down and the top teams move up.
Not at all realistic with the system already in place, but it would be cool to see the Pirates in AAA for a few years until they get their act together. It would be cool seeing a team go from 5 ranks down to the majors in 15 years.
Just out of curiosity, what would happen if this agreement were to lapse? Would no minor league games take place? Would the minor league teams get players from the independent leagues?
@Plank: The minors would act independently of MLB. So the New Britain Rock Cats would need to sign their own players, and compete as a team rather than just develop players for someone else. The minors would compete with the majors for players, and they would also make money by selling and trading players to the majors. It would be like it was in the early days of the professional game.
Seems like they are pretty entwined at this point. The next step I see happening (which is already happening a lot) is the major league teams owning all their minor league affiliates outright.
@Plank: You’re probably right. It would be nice to have competitive minor leagues, however.
I know this is a non-starter, but I wish baseball had a system like English soccer. The bottom teams move down and the top teams move up.
Not at all realistic with the system already in place, but it would be cool to see the Pirates in AAA for a few years until they get their act together. It would be cool seeing a team go from 5 ranks down to the majors in 15 years.