MLB proposes new deal with Minor Leagues

Major League Baseball is proposing a new deal that could reorganize minor league teams.

The Professional Baseball Agreement (PBA) between the major and minor leagues expires at the end of next season. The MLB has proposed a new deal, and if adopted, 25 percent of minor league teams would be eliminated. The rest will either get smaller, bigger, or even switch classifications.

The MLB and minor league teams are farther apart in any negotiation since 1990. This proposal would bring down the number of minor league teams from 160 to 120 by 2021.

MLB is reportedly considering a major overhaul of the minor league system that would see 42 teams stripped of their affiliation with MLB clubshttps://t.co/gXPnw65ktC

— SI MLB (@si_mlb) October 19, 2019

Pros:

• Nicer Facilities
• Increased player salaries
• Dream League
• Geographically better

The pros to the new deal include nicer facilities for the minor league teams that are kept. The proposal would focus on dramatically improving minor league facilities.

Another pro would be that minor league players would get increased salaries.

This would be due to less teams and the fact that the minor league teams would only have 150-200 players.

For the 42 teams that would be dropped, the goal would be for them to form a “Dream League.” This league would practically serve as an independent league, allowing players without jobs to continue trying to make it to the MLB.

The shift would also cluster teams closer together, meaning less travel, better geographically. For example, in Triple A, the Pacific Coast League would shift from 16 teams to 10.

Cons

• Less teams
• Less players
• Fewer divisions
• Fewer Draft rounds

The cons for the deal include huge ramifications. More than three-dozen cities could loose their minor league teams.

Besides the cities loosing their teams, thousands of players would be out of jobs. Some teams would also go through reorganization with some teams dropping from Class AAA to Class A, and vice versa.

The cuts would also include fewer rounds in the draft. The draft would not only be moved back to August, causing issues with eligibility, but also only include 20-25 rounds. The undrafted players would go to the Dream League.

This proposal, if adopted, could be the most dramatic change in the minor leagues since their reorganization in 1962.

The two sides will be meeting in November, after the world series, to continue discussing the future of the major and minor leagues.