Minor League baseball changes

[1995hoo]

I think so much makes since, but they should have kept the league names

I saw a report, I think on the Athletic, saying the league names are not finalized and they are still deciding whether to keep any of the traditional ones.

[hotdogPi]

I don't think any of the minor league names should match the major league names, to avoid confusion. For example, I have to call it the Worcester Red Sox every time, while if they were almost anything else, I could call it by just the team name without having to specify the city. And if promotion/relegation is added, we can't have two teams with the same name in the same league.

I would never have guessed that the Salem Red Sox are in Salem, Virginia without looking at Wikipedia. While it's in a region without a major league team, they're nowhere near Boston, while the Worcester team is.

[Jim]

Not just Lowell, they destroyed many very successful NY-Penn League teams.  The Frontier League will try to fill the void for the very successful Tri-City ValleyCats, but it won't be the same.  I know MLB is looking to reduce the costs of the minor leagues, but I think they're greatly underestimating the benefits they get from engaging people in baseball in so many locations.

[SectorZ]

I would never have guessed that the Salem Red Sox are in Salem, Virginia without looking at Wikipedia. While it's in a region without a major league team, they're nowhere near Boston, while the Worcester team is.

I would imagine that many around Boston that don't know about the Salem Red Sox that hear of them for the first time guess they're in Salem, MA. That would actually be a cool place to stick a team if there was any room to build a small stadium.

The Salem Red Sox could always move, since the stadium is owned by the city and not Fenway Sports Group. MLB wants to get all the affiliates closer to the mother team, and if the team didn't own the Salem Red Sox they probably would have been killed off instead of the Lowell Spinners. I have a suspicion that they could actually move to Lowell and replace the Spinners, with FSG buying out the IP and trademarks of the Spinners and renaming the affiliate as the Spinners.

The stadium in Salem must be the only one around that has a corporate sponsorship bought by a car dealership. That's a bad trend.

[AlexandriaVA]

It's unfortunate to see some of the classic small-city teams getting the axe (at least as far as affiliations go). But given that the big-league clubs pay the minor-league bills, this was probably inevitable at one point or another. That, and television coverage allowing small-city fans to watch the local major league club on a regular basis.

Also, I have my doubts about the viability of independent minor leagues surviving alongside the MLB-affiliated teams.

[1995hoo]

It's a shame to see small franchises go. I do think, however, that to the extent MLB is managing the geographical assignment of major league teams' affiliations that it's a beneficial thing. For example, for the past two years the Nationals' AAA affiliate was the Fresno Grizzlies. That's pretty ridiculous, and it resulted in the Nats sending players who should have been playing AAA ball to AA Harrisburg instead to ensure they were more readily available on short notice. That situation, in turn, doesn't help the AAA team either because they lose out on some of the talent.

Of course, I suppose that issue isn't totally unique to baseball: The NHL's Winnipeg Jets had an AHL affiliate in St. John's for several years, although that affiliate has now moved to Winnipeg as the revived Manitoba Moose franchise. (The background is that the Moose played in Winnipeg in what is now the Jets' home arena but moved to Newfoundland when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became the Jets. Following a series of deals, the AHL team is now back in Winnipeg and St. John's has an ECHL team–roughly equivalent to AA baseball–that is affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs.)

[texaskdog]

It made a lot of sense.  Their affiliates should be somewhat close in most cases.

[texaskdog]

I wonder if more major league cities will also host minor league teams like New York, the Twin Cities, etc.  if they can draw why not have a AAA team in town?

[texaskdog]

I don't think any of the minor league names should match the major league names, to avoid confusion. For example, I have to call it the Worcester Red Sox every time, while if they were almost anything else, I could call it by just the team name without having to specify the city. And if promotion/relegation is added, we can't have two teams with the same name in the same league.

I would never have guessed that the Salem Red Sox are in Salem, Virginia without looking at Wikipedia. While it's in a region without a major league team, they're nowhere near Boston, while the Worcester team is.

What the heck are they dodging in OKC, cow pies?

[Alps]

I don't think any of the minor league names should match the major league names, to avoid confusion. For example, I have to call it the Worcester Red Sox every time, while if they were almost anything else, I could call it by just the team name without having to specify the city. And if promotion/relegation is added, we can't have two teams with the same name in the same league.

I would never have guessed that the Salem Red Sox are in Salem, Virginia without looking at Wikipedia. While it's in a region without a major league team, they're nowhere near Boston, while the Worcester team is.

Woosox, most likely.

[jp the roadgeek]

It made a lot of sense.  Their affiliates should be somewhat close in most cases.

In some cases, they're not.  Hartford is nowhere near Denver, nor is Richmond anywhere near the (San Francisco) Bay Area.