The Minor League Sports Bullshit and Miscellania thread

[Cartman]

I used to go to a ton of Pawsox games, I really liked McCoy Stadium, even moreso after the renovation. When I was a kid, being able to walk down the street and see a game any day for dirt cheap, was great. No Chance will I ever go to Worcester to see them now.

 

[alkeiper]

Crazy game in Scranton today. The Railriders and Syracuse Mets found themselves in a one game playoff for the division crown. The Mets led 7-1 at the seventh inning stretch and then all he’ll broke loose.

https://www.milb.com/milb/news/scrantonwilkes-barre-railriders-punch-ticket-to-playoffs-with-big-comeback/c-310518030

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

!!!

Amazing that Gritty is doing personal appearances in Maine! What an ICON!

Meet & Greets are $100 (front row center ice tickets for Maine Mariners games are $24)! Go get that cheddar, Gritty!

 

[alkeiper]

A story making its way around the last month. MLB is seeking to reduce the number of minor league teams.

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/ny-minor-league-luhnow-madden-20191116-73ssnr7ybvdwzdr5vd44vh4e5m-story.html

 

[Master Thrasher]

Which is stupid if your trying to grow the game. Also you mentioned it but the team in Williamsport is going to go bye bye, yet MLB going to play a game there. The stadium has been updated recently too.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Maybe a hot take but I'm not really upset at that idea. Does there really NEED to be seven Single A Leagues and five Rookie Ball leagues? And if it makes living conditions for minor league players better, I'm all for it. It's eliminating jobs but the jobs it's eliminating (at least, the playing jobs) aren't really much of a living at all. The guy selling popcorn in Lowell will probably lose out on more money than the Lowell Spinners shortstop.

 

[alkeiper]

Maybe a hot take but I'm not really upset at that idea. Does there really NEED to be seven Single A Leagues and five Rookie Ball leagues? And if it makes living conditions for minor league players better, I'm all for it. It's eliminating jobs but the jobs it's eliminating (at least, the playing jobs) aren't really much of a living at all. The guy selling popcorn in Lowell will probably lose out on more money than the Lowell Spinners shortstop.

I think the Appalachian League is expendable. The Pioneer League is on the same level but where else is someone in Montana going to see professional baseball? Professional baseball shouldn't just be a conduit to its highest level. There needs to be a place where players can play for a livable wage who aren't MLB quality but are still very good.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Totally agreed. And I think more than any other sport, I think there's more of an appeal and demand to see baseball at low professional level.

Do you know pay is like in top level independent leagues Vs Double A and Single A, al? I remember from the FS1 docuseries on the Pecos League, they got pay (and living conditions) comparable to an Eastern European factory worker.

 

[alkeiper]

Totally agreed. And I think more than any other sport, I think there's more of an appeal and demand to see baseball at low professional level.

Do you know pay is like in top level independent leagues Vs Double A and Single A, al? I remember from the FS1 docuseries on the Pecos League, they got pay (and living conditions) comparable to an Eastern European factory worker.

That's a good question. The Pecos League is absolute dirt lowest before you start playing semi-pro or amateur. Other indy leagues are marginally better. I found an article stating the Can-Am League had a team salary cap of $102,000 and the American Association has one of $115,000. That gets you to the level of Short Season A or Low A. The Atlantic League has team salaries of $225-275000, I think that is roughly comparable to AA baseball.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

That is still gruesomely low. That averages to $4.40 an hour for a AA player per my pidgin math.

It's baffling to me that pro baseball players being paid sub minimum wage isn't a bigger deal. Sure, a lot of their expense get paid for but what about during the offseason? Are the winter overseas leagues lucrative at all?

 

[alkeiper]

Not a lot of their expenses are covered. Players need to find their own housing and often shack up with host families. Their travel is covered and they receive a per diem on the road but a portion of that is paid to the clubhouse attendant. Players don't get paid for the offseason, in fact minor league players aren't even paid for spring training. I don't know what players in the Caribbean make, but I do know some minor leaguers and prospects are playing in the Australian Winter League more.

One silver lining currently is that Korea is using more foreign players and paying them well.

 

[alkeiper]

https://theathletic.com/1367234/2019/11/20/play-better-and-get-the-hell-out-of-here-a-weekend-in-indy-ball-the-league-of-second-chances/

The pay is worse, too. Atlantic League teams deal with a monthly payroll limit of $55,000 a month, and a hard cap on salaries of $3,000 a month per player. It’s not much, but it approximates a Triple-A salary. American Association clubs must stay below $125,000 for the entire roster for the whole season, although there are a couple of exceptions that allow teams to retain “star” players at higher salaries.

The further down you go, the worse the accommodations. There are the Midwest-set Frontier League and the East Coast’s Can-Am League, which announced a merger last month. The talent level there ranges from the equivalents of rookie league to Double A, the pay from $600 to $2,500 a month. Then there are smaller leagues that mostly escape the eyes of scouts. In the Pecos League, which has teams sprinkled across the Southwest from Kansas to California, players make $50 a week and drive their own cars to road games. Players sometimes come out of the Pecos League, but it’s extremely rare.

 

[Master Thrasher]

Cool

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

More than 100 members of Congress signed a letter condemning the proposal to shut down over 40 teams earlier this week.

"Reducing the number of Minor League Baseball clubs and overhauling a century-old system that has been consistently safeguarded by Congress is not in the best interest of the overall game of baseball, especially when Major League Baseball's revenues are at all-time highs," the letter said.

Wadeasekin. Maybe I'm reading this wrong but Congress safeguards the MLB system? How? No wonder why they were overly interested in the steroid scandal 15 years ago.

 

[alkeiper]

After the Federal League collapsed it’s owners sued Major League Baseball claiming it constituted a monopoly. The Supreme Court said it didn’t, creating the antitrust exemption. The court won’t overturn that decision and has passed it along to Congress since. So MLB has an interest in keeping congress happy, lest congress legislates away MLB’s antitrust exemption.

 

[alkeiper]

Cool

I really need to go to this.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

After the Federal League collapsed it’s owners sued Major League Baseball claiming it constituted a monopoly. The Supreme Court said it didn’t, creating the antitrust exemption. The court won’t overturn that decision and has passed it along to Congress since. So MLB has an interest in keeping congress happy, lest congress legislates away MLB’s antitrust exemption.

Oh I guess that explains why MLB is the only major sports league where no one has attempted to compete with for the past 50 years.

 

[Master Thrasher]

Would anyone really watch a competing baseball league? There's been a dozen football leagues that have collapsed. The ABA and WHL folded into the NBA and NHL. There isn't enough talent to get into a separate baseball league.

I hope the owners of those minor league teams file a class action lawsuit against MLB.

 

[alkeiper]

The ramifications of the antitrust exemption is that the San Francisco Giants can assert territorial rights over San Jose and can stop the Athletics from moving there.

I don’t think a league could compete with MLB. But there’s the small matter of the labor agreement coming due. If MLB sees a work stoppage and there’s 6-8 cities that want Major League Baseball, suddenly the idea of a high independent league looks attractive. That’s a pipe dream. I could see a foreign league drawing interest in the event of a work stoppage though, at least temporarily.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://www.pressherald.com/2019/11/22/tacko-fall-makes-a-big-splash-at-boys-girls-club/
To lighten the mood a bit, Tacko Fall has enrolled in a swimming class while he plays for the Maine Red Claws.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

So MLB has an interest in keeping congress happy, lest congress legislates away MLB’s antitrust exemption.

I was going to make a joke earlier about when the POTUS candidates would start weighing in...

https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1199027511604260870

 

[Master Thrasher]

Here's another promotion for Al:

 

[alkeiper]

It’s a crowded April.

 

[Master Thrasher]

I'm surprised the Railriders didn't do this first.

(I have no idea if they had.)

 

[alkeiper]

I'm surprised the Railriders didn't do this first.

(I have no idea if they had.)

When the finale aired they held a separate event with cast (including "surprise" guest Steve Carell. I'm disappointed they haven't done more. They have a legends race with Munson, Mantle, DiMaggio and Martin when it would be much more fun to have an Office characters race like the Padres do with Anchorman.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/28576127/world-champion-canoeist-wins-doping-case-citing-bodily-fluids-boyfriend

Somebody please tell me that this doesn't say what I think it says? Because, to me, it reads like she beat a doping rap with the, "I don't wash my vag after sex" defense?

 

[alkeiper]

Washing doesn't undo the transmission of fluids. And it sounds like there was some burden of proof involved.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Could’ve met Kurt Angle at a G-League game in Iowa tonight. Would’ve been fun, especially since the only time I met Angle he was in TNA and pulled out to being a zombie

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/salemredsox/status/1225788907192754176
I knew the Red Sox minor league system was in bad shape but this is worse than I could ever imagine.

 

[KingPK]

Can Chad Kroeger throw a good changeup?