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    I can't see him back in Boston after Red Sox hired Chaim but Red Sox ownership probably pushed Cora back through when Chaim likely would have wanted his own guy. So, maybe that could be the move. I assume not only does Theo want a year off but the Cubs probably have him tied up for the year or someone would have to pay to get him. In some sense, Theo back to the Red Sox and Chaim to the Mets would make more sense. Realistically, it's hard to see where Theo could go. He'd need bigger money after winning with two storied clubs that had long droughts. Yankees, Dodgers, Giants are set. Toronto seems set. Phillies could make sense since McPhail (?) is in his last year and stepping down. Beyond that it's hard to see a club that could afford him. I assume another option might be some ownership offer. So, a club like the Orioles, which are likely to be sold when Peter Angelos passes, could be sold to some group who brings Theo in as a limited partner with the expectation that he'd be involved -- kind of like Stan Kasten with the Dodgers.

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      The smart money is definitely on a position that includes an ownership stake and does not involve day-to-day GM duties.

      Baltimore isn't a bad call, though I wouldn't be surprised if other opportunities open up as the post-pandemic landscape shakes out.

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        Yeah, the Phillies would make sense, but joining ownership and/or a different sport is more likely. It’s good to be that rich.

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          Cano with a second suspension. Mets are probably happy about that. Yankees have to be relieved they let him walk. He has not sent out a press release yet. We know what's coming: I took something for a cold and didn't know it was banned. And I'll repeat my mantra about this: You're a multi-million dollar player with access to the top doctors in the world. Why is your cousin offering advice about what to do when you have a cold. Call your doctor, the doctor writes the script, you pick it up. But we know the cold line is always a lie. Anyway, he might come out with a different line this time, but I doubt it.

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            Atlanta strikes again and signs Morton to a 1-year $15million deal. I don't know if Rays had to pay a buyout. If so, Morton is ahead, since his deal with Rays would have been $15million.

            Rumor mill in high gear as reporters try to find something to do. The hot story on MLB Network last night was Lindor to Dodgers. I don't see that happening. In general, he's probably better than Seager but Seager is a known commodity and given the flood of amazing short stops hitting the market next year, Dodgers might be able to get a hometown discount with Seager. Although I could see teams that have spent in the past jumping in for one of these shortstops, I think there will be more quality than landing spots. Anyway, last week they were all buzzing about Arenado to the Dodgers and have moved away from that rumor. I assume that Mookie has filled the long-term deal chair in the musical chairs situation Seager might be the only other deal of any length.

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              So the destruction of the existing minor league system seems to be gathering pace.

              Firstly the eight team rookie Pioneer League based around Utah, Montana, Idaho and Colorado has become a 'Partner League of MLB' or in others words an independent league with the major league initially (my italics) funding it. It'll be interesting for how long that relationship lasts.

              And in the North East four teams from the short season NY-Penn League (including HP's Spikes) and AA Trenton are now part of the Draft League.

              https://www.milb.com/news/pioneer-le...partner-league

              https://www.milb.com/news/mlb-draft-...pening-in-2021

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                How a five team league makes sense is beyond me.

                They must have at least one other location in process.

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                  It does suggest another team will join to make it six. Still seems two too few for a 68 game season.

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                    I get that teams are especially trying to shed costs amidst a pandemic and they have no idea what will happen when the new collective bargaining agreement is negotiated. However, the radical shift toward youth in the game means coaching is crucial in that 18-22 age range. Unless MLB is going to say that from here on out we're only drafting college players (a la the NFL) then chopping up this system makes no sense.

                    I guess the other response would be that less draft rounds (a one-off because of COVID?) means less guys coming through the system. But that line of thinking ignores how many late round draftees make it to the show and how many early round draftees don't make it.

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                      Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                      How a five team league makes sense is beyond me.

                      They must have at least one other location in process.
                      They will add at least one more team, probably Hagerstown, and possibly there will be a northern division with some other NYPL teams and maybe some teams formerly in summer collegiate wood bat leagues.

                      Trenton really got screwed. They Yankees decided to take a team out of the Atlantic League instead of maintaining their affiliation with Trenton. Not sure why.

                      If it’s all draft-eligible players, then I guess we won’t see any Dominicans or
                      Venezuelans. Not sure what will happen with them.

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                        Originally posted by Greenlander View Post
                        So the destruction of the existing minor league system seems to be gathering pace.

                        Firstly the eight team rookie Pioneer League based around Utah, Montana, Idaho and Colorado has become a 'Partner League of MLB' or in others words an independent league with the major league initially (my italics) funding it. It'll be interesting for how long that relationship lasts.
                        Back in the summer of '89 I did a tour of Minor League stadia out west - hit all of the Pioneer League plus some Midwest League and Pacific Coast League (I won the quiz question at Billings and was interviewed on the pitcher's mound - prize was two tickets to Montana State Opening Game Football). I documented the trip in photos, mostly B&W - have bundles of contact sheets. We got hit by a tornado in Sioux Falls and lost our tent. The big draft sensation in '89 was high school catcher Tyler Houston who drafted # 2 behind pitcher Ben McDonald. I saw him play a couple of times on my trip - have a few pics of him in his first games. Frank Thomas was drafted #7 - and clearly had a more notable career, as did Jeff Bagwell drafted at #109 ha !


                        As you were....

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                          That sounds like an epic adventure.

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                            After reading that I so want to do a baseball themed road trip.

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                              You should come through PA. We have many teams.

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                                Maryland, Pennsylvania and what is left of the Appalachian League could keep one busy for a couple of weeks plus.

                                One could even start in Wilmington or South Jersey.

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                                  I had always wanted to do that as well. The problem is that 95% of my vacation time over the years has been spent visiting family. And the time/money ratio basically meant flying so we could spend more time with my family and my in-laws. One other move would be Florida. The drives can be long from one part of the state to another, but central Florida provides a lot of options and all of the cities are basically 30-60 minutes away from any central hub (e.g., if you stayed in Tampa then you're 30 minutes from Clearwater, Lakeland and 60 from Orlando, etc.). Of course, the weather is brutal in Florida in the summer.

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                                    Just looking at milb.com to get an idea of the places I could visit and it's notable they've taken away the option to view teams by league, along with the way more helpful location option. Is this a portent of more changes to come.

                                    Which has kind of ruined my morning diversion. My US geography is pretty good but it's a stretch to work my way around rural Pennsylvania and upstate NY. I'd really like to see games in Brooklyn and at Staten Island though.

                                    From what I remember the teams in the Appalachian (as was) are all within about 100 miles of each other.

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                                      I don’t know if Staten Island and Brooklyn will still have teams.

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                                        The Mets are moving their AA affiliate to Brooklyn, I think. Staten Island at the moment is in the cold.

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                                          That is indeed the current state of play. Staten Island have some hope of getting an independent league team. They are rather upset at the Yankees.

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                                            So what will be left. That's both rookie leagues plus one of the class A short season ones rebranded or broken up. Each major league team having three or four affilites so 90 to 120 teams. The original plan seems to be coming together nicely.

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                                              As far as I can tell, the expectation is that the orphaned cities will look to independent leagues or summer, wooden bat collegiate leagues as the most likely sources of replacement clubs.

                                              There will not be enough of such clubs to go around.

                                              It seems to me that the nature of those two kinds of clubs is quite different, but perhaps that is because my mino lrqgue experience has tended to be with established full season leagues in metropolitan areas

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                                                Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                                That is indeed the current state of play. Staten Island have some hope of getting an independent league team. They are rather upset at the Yankees.
                                                So the Binghamton Rumble Ponies are out?


                                                It seems like this new Draft League is basically a slightly more advanced version of the Cape Cod League without the tradition or charm. I hope it works, but I'm afraid that MLB will decide in a few years that it doesn't need it. The organization that will run it has no experience running a league and the guy they picked to lead it has little to no experience running any kind of business. Most of his professional experience is as a college coach.

                                                I suppose we may get to see more of the very top prospects in it than we did in the NYPL. In the past, many of the top picks from college didn't sign until late in the summer and/or skipped rookie/short-season baseball.

                                                On the plus side, Spikes owner Chuck Greenberg* said that he expects teams to be able to get some regional picks. So any prospects from Penn State or central PA (there are usually a couple every year) would be able to play for the Spikes. That would be cool.

                                                On the other hand, if it is just draft prospects, it will only be players from the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. It's not clear if there will be an alternative intermediate step between the Venezuelan and DR academies and Low A for players from those countries. I know MLB wants to include those players in the draft, but I'm sure the agents will fight that.

                                                And I don't get how this split season will work. Once the draft is over, the second half of the year will be a whole new group of undrafted players? But surely, they'll gradually get signed or give up and go back to school or get a regular job or whatever. So who will finish the season? It would just make more sense for MLB to have their draft in September. I've never understood why they have it in the middle of the season.


                                                I was kinda hoping that the Spikes could join the Atlantic League, but that might not make economic sense because it would have to pay the players. I think they might be able to draw as well as many Low A or High A teams but there's no league at that level that would be a good geographic fit. The major league clubs like giving their players, most of whom are from warm weather places, experience playing in the north in April, but it's hard to draw fans when its still cold, so maybe the Spikes don't really want to try that.

                                                I'm glad to see that Altoona has, apparently, made it through this unscathed. They're the smallest city in the Eastern League and there were rumblings that the Pirates are insisting that Blair County come up with some money to improve their facility, but so far it looks like they will survive. For now.
                                                Last edited by Hot Pepsi; 01-12-2020, 20:26.

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                                                  No, it turns out that my understanding was wrong

                                                  Binghamton are still the Mets' AA affiliate, Brooklyn are moving to a new full season A league called the Mid Atlantic that so far only includes them and he Yankees' Hudson Valley Renegades, but will add more clubs

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                                                    Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                                    No, it turns out that my understanding was wrong

                                                    Binghamton are still the Mets' AA affiliate, Brooklyn are moving to a new full season A league called the Mid Atlantic that so far only includes them and he Yankees' Hudson Valley Renegades, but will add more clubs
                                                    Ok.

                                                    I kinda wish State College could get into that league. But maybe they don't want to do full-season baseball because of the weather issue and their deal with Penn State. And, it is a smaller market than those others, so maybe they weren't invited.

                                                    I expect Lowell will join that league. Maybe Vermont will too.

                                                    It seems like that would have been a good fit for Trenton, but the Yankees abandoned them for reasons I don't know, so they didn't have an MLB partner.
                                                    Last edited by Hot Pepsi; 01-12-2020, 20:34.

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