There is no sport at any level that is more interwoven into grassroots America than minor league baseball. From rookie leagues to Triple-A, from the Idaho Falls Chukars and Greensboro Grasshoppers to the Erie SeaWolves and the Tacoma Rainiers, they are a slice of Americana.
The minors have a certain charm — players mingling with fans, the corny music, the silly on-field promotional fan gags, scaled-down stadiums, even the names of the teams. For more than 100 years, towns small and large have had a team of their own that was connected directly to the bigs. Minor league ball, romantic and hopeful with possibilities, has inspired dozens of books (“A False Spring”) and movies (“Bull Durham,” “Field of Dreams”).
And now much of that is going away. On Sept. 30, the Professional Baseball Agreement that bound the minor leagues and the major leagues, ended, and big changes are coming. MLB will contract the minor leagues from 162 to 120 teams — four per big-league club — thus ending big-league affiliations for 42 teams (two of Utah’s three minor league teams — the Ogden Raptors and Orem Owlz — are expected to be among them). Rookie and short-season Class-A levels are being eliminated. And, the coup de grace: MLB will take over broadcast, sponsorship and merchandising rights, splitting revenues 50-50 with the minor league clubs.
Some consider this action tantamount to a hostile takeover. And this is on top of a minor league season that was canceled because of the pandemic.
Previously, under the terms of the agreement, the minors and majors were equal partners, recognizing the need for one another. Major League Baseball needed a proving ground for talent and provided and paid for players that made up minor league rosters. Minor league teams, independently owned, governed and financed, provided teams and facilities for those players.
Now that arrangement is being turned upside down.
MLB executives say that contraction will save money and improve the caliber of minor league teams. Dave Baggott, president and owner of the Ogden Raptors, says that’s nonsense.
“They are saving a little money,” he says, “but for the New York Yankees it is the equivalent of the cost of our napkins for one season.”
Maybe nobody is leading the fight against the MLB takeover more passionately than Baggott, whose Raptors are one of six minor league teams affiliated with the Dodgers. As a rookie league club, they are playing at the lowest level in the minor leagues, but they have still sent a handful of players on their way to the majors, including former six-time All-Star Prince Fielder, among others.
“There’s been an ongoing negotiation, but it’s all from us and nothing has changed,” says Baggott. “(MLB) hasn’t negotiated anything. They just issued terms of surrender. If you don’t agree, they’ll bury you. … They’re saying, we can take your (affiliate) license any time we like. They’re taking control of the industry and alienating millions of grassroots baseball fans. In the future they might buy everyone out until they own it all.”
Baggott expects dozens of lawsuits will eventually be filed against MLB by minor league teams and their cities. “If a community put up a bunch of money to build a stadium for an affiliated team and then MLB pulls the affiliation, they have a case,” says Baggott.
“They are saving a little money, but for the New York Yankees it is the equivalent of the cost of our napkins for one season.” — Dave Baggott
Baggott flew to Washington to make a presentation to the Save Minor League Baseball task force, which is co-sponsored by several congressmen. He presented a video that showed the impact of the Raptors on the Ogden area. Politicians have thrown their support behind the minor leagues. More than 100 members of Congress signed a letter to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred opposing the contraction. Last fall, then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, issued this statement: “Closing down Minor League teams like the Ogden Raptors and Orem Owlz would be a disaster for baseball fans, workers, and communities across Utah.”
The clubs that lose their MLB affiliation can continue to play ball, but they will lose considerable interest among fans and sponsors, and they will have to find their own players. Players shouldn’t be difficult to find. Baggott estimates that 1,200 to 1,400 players will be released from minor league teams by the contraction of teams. On the other hand, if they sign with unaffiliated teams they will face a more difficult path to the majors. With the MLB draft cut from 40 rounds to five, even fewer players are landing with affiliated teams.
One plan is to stock the nonaffiliated teams with draftable college players for a brief 5½-week season that would allow those players to return to their college teams. But Baggott says that such a short season would not enable his team to pay its bills and that a more workable plan is to allow teams to carry both college and professional players similar to what the PGA Tour allows.
Baggott says the Raptors will continue regardless of what happens. They’ve adapted during the pandemic shutdown by using Lindquist Field for movie nights, high school games, dinners around home plate and even funerals, mostly, says Baggott, “to let the community know we’re still here.” He continues, “We are going to play baseball in 2021. We just don’t know if we’re going to be affiliated with Major League Baseball.”