Jump to content
Brewer Fanatic

2021 Brewers Affiliates

balsamlaker
LincolnDD College Ball

LincolnDD

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
So the Carolina league would stay at high-A? And you’re projecting them to only have the six teams?

 

The rumor is there will be four High-A Leagues, including the Carolina League, with many teams switching classification between High and Low A: https://ballparkdigest.com/2020/11/07/let-the-affiliate-dance-begin/

 

Northwest League at six teams mentioned here: https://ballparkdigest.com/2020/11/02/details-of-mlb-takeover-of-milb-emerge/

 

Mid-Atlantic League at six teams mentioned here: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/binghamton-brooklyn-survive-as-mets-announce-2021-minor-league-affiliates/

 

The Midwest League at twelve teams is mentioned here:

 

That leaves six for the Carolina League, so that was my logic there. The first link I shared also mentions the South Atlantic League would be twelve teams. I also removed the teams in that region that were on the original hit list (Frederick, Hagerstown, Lexington, West Virginia Power) to get the teams to this breakdown, and moved two others to the new Mid-Atlantic League.

 

Here's my guess at the Mid-Atlantic League, fwiw, though no real idea on the sixth team, so I just put Trenton there for now. Could be Lowell, like that other article said. Could be Tri-City or West Virginia Black Bears, not on the original hit list:

 

Aberdeen – Orioles

Brooklyn – Mets

Hudson Valley – Yankees

Jersey Shore – Phillies

Trenton – Rays

Wilmington – Nationals

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 393
  • Created
  • Last Reply
LincolnDD College Ball

LincolnDD

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Yeah, for sure. Could see any of those Virginia teams in the new league.

 

The President of Lynchburg disputes that they're on the chopping block, but sometimes where there's smoke...

 

He also said he thinks all of those Virginia teams end up in the SAL. I think he's just guessing like we all are, but his guess probably carries more weight:

 

Brooklyn and Hudson Valley have already been confirmed for the Mid Atlantic League. I'm pretty confident Jersey Shore and Wilmington get there, based on geography. I'd say Aberdeen is most likely, though any one of the current Orioles affiliates in Maryland could end up here as the fifth team. It's the sixth one that's hard to figure. Could be Lowell (see the article I posted earlier), could be Tri-City or West Virginia Black Bears (neither were on the initial contraction list), could be Frederick (was on the cut list, but nice facilities). Maybe even another independent team?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
balsamlaker Draft Eligible

balsamlaker

Verified Member
Posted
  • Author
Posted
So would that likely put both the Mid-Atlantic and South-Atlantic teams at 12 members each? If this is the case, I would think the Mudcats would definitely stay in the SAL. There are probably 14 teams below the North Carolina/Virginia line. A couple of teams (CWS and Texas) have two below that line. I think Texas owns both of them, also. Location-wise, Asheville probably makes the most sense to move to AA if a team moves in that direction (or Greenville if they can break away from the Red Sox).
Link to comment
Share on other sites
LincolnDD College Ball

LincolnDD

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Yes, I think twelve each makes sense.

 

I don't think the math on the SAL changes from before. The California League still seems set to land at eight teams, and the Florida State League at ten teams, so twelve in the SAL looks like a safe bet. And yeah, I also think the Mudcats still end up there.

 

I could see the MAL at either ten or twelve, depending on whether they drop the MWL by two or four teams. And that's assuming they still plan to drop two teams from the NWL. So who knows. I'd be pretty confident in this point with Nashville-Biloxi-Wisconsin-Carolina, but still time for things to change.

 

The BA article says we should know something by the first week of December, so hopefully word drops soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
balsamlaker Draft Eligible

balsamlaker

Verified Member
Posted
  • Author
Posted
My prediction would be the same as LincolnDD's unless they go geography over facilities, then I could see Chattanooga or Jackson replace Biloxi. Rocket City would also be great, but everything seems to point towards them staying connected to the LAA.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
LincolnDD College Ball

LincolnDD

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Here's the ugly side of this mess: https://www.fresnobee.com/sports/mlb/fresno-grizzlies/article247444700.html

 

MLB has told Fresno that if the Grizzlies want to stay in affiliated ball, then they have to agree to the shift to Low-A (as a Rockies affiliate). The decision deadline is Monday, November 30th.

 

More or less confirms the drop in classification for the California League. It also suggests that things still aren't quite finalized yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brewers Numbers Prep Ball

Brewers Numbers

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Tom Hardicourt today:

These changes would allow #Brewers to keep affiliations with @CarolinaMudcats, a team they own, and @TimberRattlers, a team they want to keep as an affiliate. The only difference would be the flipping of Class A levels -- High A for Wisconsin and Low A for Carolina.

 

Tom had retweeted Matt Eddy's tweet:

The new Class A structure is going to take some getting used to.

 

***HIGH A

Mid-Atlantic

Midwest

Northwest

 

***LOW A

California

Carolina/South Atlantic

Florida State

 

@jjcoop36 reports that MLB will soon announce PDLs for the 120 full-season clubs.

 

bit.ly/3q9OBiC

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DHonks Carolina Mudcats

DHonks

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
Here's the ugly side of this mess: https://www.fresnobee.com/sports/mlb/fresno-grizzlies/article247444700.html

 

MLB has told Fresno that if the Grizzlies want to stay in affiliated ball, then they have to agree to the shift to Low-A (as a Rockies affiliate). The decision deadline is Monday, November 30th.

 

More or less confirms the drop in classification for the California League. It also suggests that things still aren't quite finalized yet.

 

 

not sure how ugly that is. Have you been to Fresno? It's not much of a location. It should be Cali League or bust

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Eye Black GOAT

Eye Black

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted
So what will the draft look like going forward? With every organization having less minor league teams, I’m guessing there will be less rounds in the draft. Has there been any talk on that?

Have heard speculation the draft will likely be 20 rounds going forward.

Not just “at Night” anymore.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brewers Numbers Prep Ball

Brewers Numbers

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

From Ballpark Digest:

Press conferences announced today to hail the unveiling of the MLB Draft League, the new summer-collegiate league in the NY-Penn League footprint. We could also see an announcement about the Pioneer League, as a deal was struck re: the future of that pro circuit.

 

JJ Cooper:

The MLB Draft League (which will include some former New York-Penn League teams) will be announced this morning. Williamsport, State College have made clear they have announcements today (hint, hint).

 

For more on the league. It was part of this story: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-nears-decision-on-120-full-season-minor-league-clubs-for-2021/

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LincolnDD College Ball

LincolnDD

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Yep. Looks like it was a premature note. So no more Vibes as an affiliate. Big drop from an AAA city just a few years ago.

 

Ballpark Digest has been hinting at the Astros moving to Beloit. And now A's beat writer Susan Slusser has Oakland potentially headed to Lansing, with the Jays staying in Vancouver.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
patrickgpe Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

patrickgpe

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

I don't think the updated spreadsheet has been posted here:

 

Nashville's prediction is brewers and mystery team

 

https://ballparkdigest.com/200905261902/minor-league-baseball/news/affiliate-dance-2012

 

no other changers to the brewers lineup, which i would expect brewers keep biloxi, wisconsin and carolina.

 

I know tomorrow is the rumored date, but i'd be surprised if they roll out all 120 teams tomorrow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
balsamlaker Draft Eligible

balsamlaker

Verified Member
Posted
  • Author
Posted
Since Nashville and Round Rock both say "interesting twist" that makes the most sense, but I struggle calling the Rangers a "mystery team" since they are the the current affiliate. A "mystery team" would be something like the Braves going to Nashville and moving their current AAA team to one of the "A" levels.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
patrickgpe Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

patrickgpe

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
The odd thing about the language is that I have been following that page for the last few PDC renewal cycles and they are never over top like that. If it was that simple they would have had Texas and Milwaukee in both Round Rock and Nashville columns. So maybe Balsamlaker is on to.something
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ClosetBrewerFan Draft Eligible

ClosetBrewerFan

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Can someone help me understand what is replacing the Rookie leagues?

 

The draft league (discussed here: https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-draft-league-to-begin-in-2021) will play 68 games with it's all star game centered around the MLB draft (during the MLB all star break as discussed here: https://www.mlb.com/news/2021-mlb-draft-in-july-all-star-week). So I presume the league will play from June - August timeframe. This league will likely showcase some of the top prep talent available in the MLB draft.

 

So, I would assume players that are drafted and signed would not stay in the draft league but instead would go to their new team's spring training facility (e.g. Maryville for the Brewers). Would they then play scrimmages against other teams in Arizona? sort of an unofficial Arizona league? Or would the players stay in the Draft leagues? I highly doubt that, since teams would not have full control over their new signings. Seems odd that the draft league would continue playing after the draft occurs as it will be pretty well decimated. I'm clearly missing something.

 

Other questions:

  • 1. By my count, the brewers have 200 some players still in the organization. So either the remaining ~70 players not assigned to a team will go to Arizona in extended spring or the Brewers have a lot of players to release yet.
    2. Will we see more high draft choices go directly to Low A ball next year to get them playing in games as quickly as possible? This will result in sort of a watering down of the current A ball league as we previously knew it as more inexperienced players start at higher levels.
    3. Do you think the Brewers knew this was going to happen when they made the long term committment with Maryville last year? Investing in that facility seems to be a good decision now considering how important it will be for player development

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
The Twins Daily Caretaker Fund
The Brewer Fanatic Caretaker Fund

You all care about this site. The next step is caring for it. We’re asking you to caretake this site so it can remain the premier Brewers community on the internet. Included with caretaking is ad-free browsing of Brewer Fanatic.

Become a Caretaker
×
×
  • Create New...