By Jordan Long
The minor league system in MLB is in trouble. MLB and minor league’s contract is set to expire after this season, but as we all know, baseball hasn’t been played this year because of COVID-19. Hundreds of minor league players have already been cut due to the pandemic. MLB is going to relook at the minor league baseball system to try and improve it.
Minor league baseball is great for small towns such as Grand Junction, Colorado. It gives the community a chance to watch baseball in the summer. The prices are family friendly at $10 to $12 per seat. A family of four can afford to enjoy a game for a reasonable price. It also allows fans to watch players who could be called up in a few years.
The biggest problem with the minor league system is how many teams each franchise has. They have Triple-A, Double-A, two single-A teams, and a rookie team for each or a total of 180 minor league teams, far too many. Players who start in rookie ball have a difficult time working up to MLB. The Grand Junction Rockies, who were moved from Casper, Wyoming, have played in Grand Junction, Colorado since 2012. On the current Colorado Rockies 40-man roster, 9 players came up from rookie ball, Kyle Freeland, Jon Gray, Scott Oberg, Ryan McMahon, Brendan Rodgers, Raimel Tapia, David Dahl, Sam Hilliard, and Dom Nuñez or 22.5% of the roster.
Those are the lucky ones who end up being called up to the Majors from rookie ball. It is very difficult for players to earn that right. Other athletes don’t have that chance and spend years in minor league baseball before calling it a career.
MLB must find a way to fix the farm system. Other sports have minor leagues. NBA has the G-league. For 30 franchises in the NBA, there are 28 G-league teams. The two that don’t have their own G-league teams are the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers. Those franchises designate some players to other teams in the G-league who they feel need work.
The NHL has the AHL (American Hockey League). Each franchise has its’ own team for players to be called up or a total of 31, far less than MLB. The NFL is the only league that doesn’t have a minor league system or teams for players to develop. They only have their draft and training camp and a practice squad. Only 53 players are on the active roster and 10 make the practice squad per franchise.
There should be minor league baseball for young players to adapt to baseball life. Baseball must find a way to keep some of the teams and condense it to make it smaller. Hopefully, baseball can re-do the way minor league baseball is set up. The only drawback is these cities have grown to enjoy their minor league teams during the summer months and they will now be eliminated. Summer in these towns will not be the same.
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