When Major League Baseball proposed to Minor League Baseball last year its plan to cut the minor leagues from 160 teams to 120 affiliated teams in negotiations for a new Professional Baseball Agreement, such a proposal was greeted by many MiLB teams as unthinkable. It was the first signal to baseball fans in Auburn, NY that their Doubledays franchise, a short-season affiliate of the Washington Nations, was in jeopardy.
The world has changed dramatically over the past six months, especially now that the coronavirus pandemic has halted sports. When MLB and MiLB negotiators convene on a teleconference on Wednesday, multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations say MiLB will indicate that it agrees to 120 affiliated teams in a new PBA.
If both sides agree, it would mean as many as 42 current minor league teams would be lopped off by eliminating short-season and Rookie ball.
One remaining hope for the Doubledays as that there may be a creation of independent leagues with rosters comprised of undrafted players or wooden bat collegiate baseball similar to the Newark Pilots of the PGCBL.
The report of Wednesday’s planned teleconference was published on Tuesday at baseballamerica.com.
Read full article here: BaseballAmerica.com
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