MLB to Small Town America: Drop Dead

I think in such a system most minor league teams would try to pick up 6-8 promotable prospects every year -- guys you could sell at a profit to MLB organizations-- and fill the roster with 10-15 "solid minor league players," guys who would be willing to hang around a few years, grow local followings, etc etc.

 

Beats the hell out of working at Sears.
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/a362184b-efe8-4f39-8763-aeac5f1dfe4e

 

Hell, in such a system, you could have a Crash Davis who could play 15 years in the minors, hit 247 home runs -- and feel ok about it.

 

Why baseball's minor leagues are changing forever

 

MiLB’s argument seems to be, “C’mon!” It’s not very effective.

 

And it starts.

 

MLB announced Thursday that the draft will be held the same week as the All-Star Game. That pretty much confirmed the elimination of the Appy, New York-Penn, Pioneer and Northwest leagues.

 

I also saw they are entering informal agreements with some independent leagues
The Atlantic and Frontier were two

 

Keith Law's argument is that the Appy draws less than 1,000 fans a game. He's a moron.

Johnson City's population is 66,000. Kingsport? 54K. The two Bristols add up to 44K. Elizabethton is 13,000. So roughly 2-5 percent of the people in those towns are going to the ballpark every night.

The Los Angeles metro is over 13 million. Given the same ratio, that would translate to an average crowd of 262,000 at a Dodgers game.

Which means more to their respective communities?

 

When Law was crying Miguel Cabrera, in the midst of a Triple Crown season, won the MVP over Mike Trout, I wrote a column for the News basically trashing Law’s conclusions and the moral superiority he carries, which is something I see in a lot of SABRs
Within 15 minutes of the posting on the web site, Law called the sports editor to bitch about it
My boss told me about the call and asked if I wanted to speak to him
I said sure
He came back out a minute later
“He didn’t want to talk to you,” he said.

 

We’re believing attendance figures from minor league teams?

I go to the local Class A ballgames. They announce a couple thousand when there’s barely a couple hundred in the stands.

 

Have you ever been to any of those stadiums? Or any of those cities other than maybe Bristol for a NASCAR race? Because I have. I lived in the Tri-Cities. The stadium experience across the Appy League is dogshit. The three teams that draw are mainly because of parent affiliations (Cardinals and Yankees in two of the cases).

I don't like losing teams or leagues any more than most MLB fans, but if any league has to be chopped, the Appy League is at the top of the list.