Offseason Update: Oct. 20, 2020
Let’s face it: ain’t nothing goin’ on right now.
Tangentially, we can infer by the slew of outrights this month that the big club is preparing for a major rebuild this offseason, with some former prospects departing for good and longtime fringe guys getting their proverbial cup of coffee before their expected outright. The market will be flooded and one has to wonder if there’s a spring training in 2021 if it’ll be adjusted to account for what I anticipate to be a very large contingent of non-roster invites.
One also has to wonder if either Florida or Arizona will be able to hold spring training next year. Likewise for the surviving college baseball programs.
As noted last week, the conventional wisdom is that the negotiations between MLB and the former MiLB teams will remain on radio silence until further notice, probably until after the election, though I have to wonder how much that really matters.
Lawsuits filed by minor-league teams against their insurers are still in the preliminary phase, and I’d have to imagine that for some teams, that’s their focus right now as they need to win or settle to stay solvent. Even municipalities that issued bonds for now-empty stadiums may not have the political will or energy to pursue litigation anytime soon, given some financial problems that need immediate attention.
I wish there were something better to pass along, but this is the state of affairs for minor-league baseball right now…
Spike lives!
We don’t know what the effects of the virus will be in 2021. If the vaccine(s) are late in arriving or are of limited efficacy, crowds might still be limited, at least in some cities. 2021 might be another season without the minor leagues, which would be a death knell for the team ownership.
We’re seeing little spurts of info here and there about what MiLB’s structure will look like in 2021.
The early rumors, dating back to when the restructure rumors first surfaced (almost a year ago!) had the Northwest League promoted from Short-Season A to full season Low-A. There are a lot of signs pointing to that happening:
Last week, the GM of the Northwest League Boise Hawks tweeted (and then deleted) a tweet promoting the “newest era of Boise Hawks baseball”, starting on April 1, 2021.
A few days later, the highly reliable A’s beat writer Susan Slusser reported the A’s are likely to move their Low-A affiliation from Beloit to Vancouver. Vancouver’s radio guy confirmed, though the “current” parent in Vancouver, the Blue Jays, deny this.
I also saw reports that fans buying 2021 tickets for the NWL Hillsboro team are being told that they’ll be full season.
Some other MiLB rumors:
On Thursday, Marlins beat guy Craig Mish reported he’s heard the Marlins are being asked to vacate AAA Wichita, and that they could end up with Jacksonville as their AAA team. He also said Pensacola is a potential AA home for them if Jax gets the promotion.
More specific to the Nats, MLB and the NY-Penn League reportedly had a phone conference on Friday, so we could be closer to hearing Auburn’s fate.
Once the WS is over, I do think we’ll start to get at least a more significant trickle of info.