Off-Topic Forum

I saw Tim Tebow play with the Rumble Ponies last season. Interesting stuff.

Jose Altuve played for the Lexington Legends...Bryce Harper for the Haggerstown Suns.  i bet most of the teams on this list have a hall of famer or future hall of famer that played there.  

this doesnt imply the teams are going to fold, just that they may not be awarded Minor League contracts. there are plenty of independant leagues they can join.  what it does mean is the talent and cash flow will diminsh.  

Correct...and the reason that these organizations were selected has nothing to do with their current or past talent level, it has to do with the facilities in which they play and the local fan support.  The idea is to improve the playing conditions for the teams that remain after these 42 are removed.

One big part of improving the playing conditions, if this plan goes through, has to be increased salaries for minor leaguers.  Some of these kids are trying to survive of $1500 a month and post-game spreads that consist of peanut butter and jelly.

I wouldn't doubt that having better facilities and the ability to draw more revenue are among the mix of reasons, though I'm sure it's more than just this. Of the teams listed I do not know what their facility issues are or aren't and what kind of fan support they draw. I've been to Binghamton to see the team there play and I think their facility at the time was better than the one here in Richmond, where I live, even though Binghamton's was older. The one here was built in 1985 and looks like a clam shell, but the team has drawn large crowds consistently through team promotions and has led the Eastern league several times in attendance since the demotion to Double-A from Triple-A in 2010. No minor league baseball was played in Richmond in 2009.

When the R-Braves left town, after forty-two (42) years of affiliation, that alienated A LOT of Atlanta Braves fans here and it was basically due to the fact that the A Braves wanted the team here to build a new facility, but at the taxpayer's expense and the locals wern't having it. Today we still have the same outdated facility, granted spruced up somewhat, that services the Flying Squirrels ( SF Giants, Double-A Eastern League) team. Talks are slowly progressing to a new facility that will be built across the street where the current ABC (state liquor) warehouse is after they move and will be shared, as is the current case, with Virginia Commonwealth University's baseball team. Keep in mind that talks of a new baseball facility here in the RVA have been going on for more than a decade with a lot of political hand wringing and not much getting done in that time. As far as who is going to pay for the new facility I need to do more research.

A similar situation played out in my hometown in Little Rock where the St. Louis Cardinals had their Double-A (Arkansas Travelers, Texas League) team. The Cardinals brass wanted the minor league ownerswhip to build a new facility and the Travelers's brass said not going to happen. The Cardinals subsequently ended their thirty-six (36) year affiliation with the Travelers and moved their Double-A team to New Haven, CT. That alienated A LOT of longtime Cardinals fans. The fortunate thing for the minor league team in LR was that the Angels came in and said they liked the current facility. The residents on the other hand realized how much the minor league team was important to their community. The residents of North Little Rock, across the Arkansas River from the big city with a much smaller population, voted for a two year sales tax increase to fund a new ballpark. After two years the sales tax was to come off the books after the park was completed in 2007. The other kicker to this was a wealthy local business man had prime real estate right along the river downtown and was willing to donate this land to build the ballpark and adjoining parking for it provided the sales tax passed the voters. The sales tax passed, the ballpark was built, the sales tax came off the books after two years and the residents still have minor league baseball. The Angels affiliation has since ended and the Mariners have been the more recent tenants.

As a fan of AA Trenton Thunder,   I will miss the Erie Seawolves and Bingamton Rumble Ponies.    Maybe they shouldn't have changed the name from Bmets to the ridiculous Rumble Ponies.

Well my team is losing two teams and has a long connection to another team so in essence they are lsoing three teams..

The teams are Lancaster JetHawks, Grand Junction Rockies and Tri-City Dust Devils. 

The Dust Devils were my team affiliate from 1992-2014. Screw you padres for taking them from me.

This is just more reason for me to become a ex-fan of mlb and instead support my local independent team.

Well it looks like some teams are losing more than one affiliate.

There are 31 mlb teams but 42 minor league teams ae gone.

My Reds have three on the list. Also of note to me are the Clinton Lumberkings, the team we shared a stadium with when I played in college. Clinton is the oldest Midwest League franchise, starting their first year in the league in 1956.

I have many opinions on this topic, and I'm going to keep them to myself as it would get very passionate and emotional, very quickly. Short version: not a fan.

I have been reading this blog for years  before Atlanta and  Santa Cruz  built a stadium on one side of the HighWay  and parking lot on other side with no plans to get fans to stadium and back except a bus.   even before Barkley Center was built.  

If you read the post on the blog by Neil de Mause,   FIELD OF SCHEMES  you will see this was the Astros Idea  that by time play gets to college they have enought analitical data  there no need to play lower level ball.   Draft going to be cut back to 20 rounds 

Congress has spoken  Congress to MLB on minor-league contraction: You remember us, right, the ones with control over your antitrust exemption?

Can someone please make a list of the teams and their MLB affiliate.