Quote:
Originally Posted by BrighterDays
It seems to me that everything happening in recent years with MLB and MiLB is not good for the long term health of the sport.
MLB has not only cut the total number of Minor League teams (from 160 to 120), but now they are forcing all of the remaining teams to upgrade their stadiums (at local taxpayer expense, of course). The loss of the Wood Ducks in Kinston is one victim of this policy, and the impending move of the Carolina Mudcats from Zebulon to a brand new taxpayer built stadium in Wilson is another.
I love the game of baseball, but I can no longer find myself interested in the business product at the MLB and MiLB level.
|
While there's some truth here, I think there's also a lot of value in right-sizing the minor leagues. Especially with independent leagues and college wooden bat leagues, there are so many ways for baseball to continue being played in the smallest of markets. Conditions for players at the minor league level could border on abysmal. The DownEast Wood Ducks play in Grainger Stadium, which is a relic from the late-40s that was honestly outdated 30 years ago and pretty terrible facilities. Part of what happened on the business side was a push to upgrade facilities. With the investment made in MiLB, did it really make sense to have a short-season A league? Sure, there are a few guys that would work their way up... but those guys could just as easily be placed in what is now known as A. The others who were mostly organizational filler prospects can still cut their teeth in DSL/ACL leagues.
Markets that retain desirability for minor league baseball (like Richmond) have been given a ton of leeway. Richmond is obviously a good enough market for AAA baseball. Their facilities are horrifically outdated though so they have AA ball. Their current facilities aren't even good enough for minor league ball right now but they've been given a one year reprieve to fix the situation (while improvements are supposed to be completed by 2025, Richmond won't have their new stadium until 2026 at the earliest) and may get more leeway if they continue to struggle.
As for Zebulon, my understanding is that part of the issue there is that it's still fairly close to Durham and AAA markets have a larger "territory" than lower levels.
Burlington for instance no longer is in the "Minor League Baseball" system. But with Greensboro (A+), Winston-Salem (A+), and Durham (AAA) all within an hour, does it really need its own MiLB team? Now they have the Sock Puppets which are in a collegiate wooden bat league. The facilities and market are much more in line with that kind of league than anything affiliated with pro baseball.
As for the tax element... that I can certainly agree with you on. Richmond, as mentioned above, may be an interesting example for what happens when tax money is NOT provided. Perhaps they'll start to set an example for other cities to say "no" or at least make the teams pay for a lot more of the facilities themselves.
Ultimately, considering that pretty much every minor market is still able to attract SOME level of baseball, I don't think the move to contract MiLB was a bad thing and will be GOOD for the long-term health of the sport. For 90% of the folks going to games in Kinston or Zebulon or even Hampton, VA (who had the Peninsula Pilots 30 years ago and played in stadium fairly similar to Grainger... but gained a collegiate wooden bat league team a few years later that has been quite successful) aren't really going to notice the difference outside of fewer autographs from future big-leaguers. But for most, going to ballgames are about nights at the park, fun with the kids, hot dogs, beers, while catching the sights and sounds of a game. Honestly, the biggest difference that would be noticed is a drop from $15/ticket to $8-10/ticket.
I do worry though about a conglomerate or small group of conglomerates taking over MiLB if that is indeed the long range plan.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
