2021 Brewers Affiliates

[patrickgpe]

I think it benefits both the parent and minor league club to have long standing relationships. For example, in Milwaukee a decent amount of hockey fans are predators fans. If the admirals were switching affiliates every few years that wouldn't be the case. I hope the system can get fixed to avoid the affiliate dance every 2 years. Also if they can do better geographically, it would also be nice.

[lamiwe21]

One thing MLB made clear is they don't care about the occupancy of the stadiums for their affiliates. So the old belief that we built this stadium to host AAA baseball is going to go away. Am interested in what do you do with a team like Bowling Green that doesn't make sense for anything outside of being a Reds affiliate in some capacity.

 

I been told that the Marlins or Rays will occupy AA Pensacola if the Twins decide to leave.

[LincolnDD]

Grand Rapids? I had to go look up West Michigan again to realize that was who you meant...

 

 

D'oh! Sorry about that! Not from the area and unfamiliar with the geography, it was easier to think "Grand Rapids" when I was playing around with this and looking at the map a lot.

[balsamlaker]

If MLB truly doesn't care about the occupancy of stadiums for different levels anymore and if they want proximity to the parent club, would it be possible, with the new stadium in Beloit, for the T-Rats to move all the way up to AAA and Beloit to become the Brewers low-A affiliate? The T-Rats would never be the most attended AAA games, but they typically bring in more than the current Braves AAA ball club. As I have mentioned in a previous post, Kane County would seem to make a lot of sense also as a "proximity" candidate to move up to AAA, also. The have a strong minor league attendance two hours from Milwaukee with I think Arizona as the parent club.

[brewmann04]

When are the going to finalize the teams Affiliates.

[LincolnDD]

When are the going to finalize the teams Affiliates.

 

I doubt we'll hear anything for a while. I think the current agreement (Professional Baseball Agreement (PBA)) expires at the end of September, so they've got time. And of course everyone on the MLB side right now is working on trying to put together a MLB season, so no focus on MiLB currently.

 

It's also possible (likely?) that some MiLB teams will fold/self-contract because they're not making any money, so that's another reason it may take a little while as they wait out that process. In that case we could see some MLB jump in and buy those teams on the brink of collapse (despite MLB owners crying poor ).

[LincolnDD]

If MLB truly doesn't care about the occupancy of stadiums for different levels anymore and if they want proximity to the parent club, would it be possible, with the new stadium in Beloit, for the T-Rats to move all the way up to AAA and Beloit to become the Brewers low-A affiliate? The T-Rats would never be the most attended AAA games, but they typically bring in more than the current Braves AAA ball club. As I have mentioned in a previous post, Kane County would seem to make a lot of sense also as a "proximity" candidate to move up to AAA, also. The have a strong minor league attendance two hours from Milwaukee with I think Arizona as the parent club.

 

I think you're right about MLB's feelings on occupancy. MLB isn't gonna care if fans are crammed into a small stadium, sitting on metal bleachers and fighting over a small handful of bathrooms, as long as their prospects have nice, large facilities. So we could very well see fits we're not used to seeing (like Fresno, likely going to be a High A team playing in a huge AAA-caliber stadium).

 

I think AAA will be a little different, though; travel will still matter. If you bump Beloit up to AAA, they finish a homestand, and then have to play on the road several states away the next day, what would the travel be like? I think the reason Fresno is getting dropped down is because travel within the PCL is a PITA. And if a MLB team is in the middle of a series in San Diego and need to call a player up from a place like Beloit, how long would that take?

 

Bus-only leagues, it may make sense to kick a short-season team all the way up to AA in order to make travel easier, but AAA probably still makes more sense in larger cities with bigger airports (imo).

[balsamlaker]

I don't think Beloit would jump up to AAA as the new stadium's maximum capacity is under 4K, I believe. Rumor has it the PCL would go down to ten teams, so if the Brewers' AAA team would be in say Appleton or Kane County they would likely be in a division that includes Omaha, Iowa, St. Paul, etc.

[MadThinker88]

You know, IF expansion took place, it would be a great excuse to limit the various level leagues to a 8 team max...

4 leagues of 8 teams = the 32 MLB franchises.

 

It could also help in getting leagues more regionally aligned with the parent club, especially at higher levels..

[LincolnDD]

I don't think Beloit would just up to AAA as the new stadium's maximum capacity is under 4K, I believe. Rumor has it the PCL would go down to ten teams, so if the Brewers' AAA team would be in say Appleton or Kane County they would likely be in a division that includes Omaha, Iowa, St. Paul, etc.

 

Appleton could still be something of a travel nightmare, but who knows.

[LincolnDD]

Now that an MLB season has been agreed on, the MiLB restructure talks can be expected to start up again. BA covered that today:

 

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlbs-proposed-120-milb-teams-for-2021-may-include-some-surprises/

[balsamlaker]

If the Midwest League is going from 16 to 12, it could be as simple as Burlington, Quad Cities, and Clinton being contracted and Bowling Green moving to the SAL. If this is the case, it wouldn't be shocking if the Brewers top four affiliates stay exactly the same.

[LincolnDD]

I'd be pretty confident in the status quo, with Wisconsin and Carolina. I think Biloxi has been discussed here, but I'd put that as a safe keep as well. Not as confident in AAA staying in San Antonio though.

 

I don't know what to make of this from that article though:

 

"MLB has been asking its 30 teams to share their thoughts on where they would like to place their affiliates in 2021..."

 

Presuming there'd still have to be some geographic limitations at Low A, Advanced A and AA (e.g. the Giants can't make San Jose a AA team), what's there to stop a team from requesting a AAA wherever they want?

-Can the Marlins request Jacksonville as their new AAA?

-Could the Nationals do the same and request Richmond as their AAA affiliate, even though it's a AA team that's not currently affiliated with them?

-Could the Orioles decide they want their AAA affiliate aligned with one of their other closer affiliates (like Bowie), and if no other team expressed interest there as an AAA team, would Norfolk then have no say and have to accept a demotion (or contraction)?

 

I'm probably overthinking this, but it sounds like it could be pretty crazy.

[balsamlaker]

If this is truly the way MLB is planning to do it, you could see a large game of dominoes. It would make sense for the Marlins to request Jacksonville. Independent-league additions could add dominoes. If the Twins request St. Paul, maybe Rochester goes to the Mets and Syracuse becomes their AA? If Sugar Land joins, do they join at AAA or AA? If you are the Brewers, who would you choose at AAA that won't be chosen by their current parent club - San Antonio, Wichita, Richmond, Rochester, Hartford?

[nate82]

If this is truly the way MLB is planning to do it, you could see a large game of dominoes. It would make sense for the Marlins to request Jacksonville. Independent-league additions could add dominoes. If the Twins request St. Paul, maybe Rochester goes to the Mets and Syracuse becomes their AA? If Sugar Land joins, do they join at AAA or AA? If you are the Brewers, who would you choose at AAA that won't be chosen by their current parent club - San Antonio, Wichita, Richmond, Rochester, Hartford?

 

I think the Brewers would request Nashville for AAA, Biloxi for AA, and then Carolina and Wisconsin for A ball. I think the rookie leagues will go away and the teams will just use their spring training sites for a rookie league or an instructional league.

 

I think the Dominican league will also stay you may see some recent drafted players go there instead of the rookie leagues.

[balsamlaker]

If St. Paul and The Woodlands join affiliated ball (AAA) it could come down to Washington and Milwaukee competing for Nashville and Rochester. If this occurs, nate82's top four would be very realistic and make sense for the Brewers. Two years ago the Rangers chose Nashville over San Antonio. I don't think they would choose Nashville over Round Rock?

[brewmann04]

The Brewers since they have bought Carolina can't lose that team or is this up in the air too?

[balsamlaker]

I would expect the teams owned by major league teams would stay with them unless the "shifting" results in two affiliates landing at the same level (could happen with the Yankees). An interesting AAA stat - only five major league teams have their AAA affiliate farther than 800 miles away - Brewers, Dodgers, Marlins, Twins, and Nationals. This could decrease to one next year if St. Paul becomes the Twins' affiliate, Jacksonville moves back to AAA to become the Marlins' affiliate, and the Brewers and Nationals fight over Nashville and Rochester. In AAA, the biggest domino may be whether or not the Rangers stay in Nashville.

[folly412]

The Brewers since they have bought Carolina can't lose that team or is this up in the air too?

 

Seemed the MLB-owned teams were deemed safe. But from this thread back when the MLB/MiLB spitting match was heating up, that may not rule out relocation:

 

viewtopic.php?f=64&t=39098&start=40

[balsamlaker]

It would be interesting to hear what conversations are going on behind closed doors. Could the Brewers try to "move" the Mudcats back up to AA, where they spent a couple of decades, and attempt to "buy low" a Carolina League replacement for them like Hickory or Pulaski? The Rangers may want to keep Spokane (likely moving to low-A) as an affiliate and the Yankees would likely keep their high-A affiliate in Tampa.

[brewmann04]

I can't see Mark Buying another Minor league baseball club at this Point.

[LincolnDD]

MiLB's president recently said more than half of the teams in minor league baseball could be facing "bankruptcy, foreclosures, and asset transfers".

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/Sports/mlb/minor-league-baseball-as-we-know-it-may-be-gone/ar-BB16l4ao?ocid=sf

 

Hard to see how they can do anything regarding realignment/contraction when there are so many question marks regarding the future of 80+ teams.

[LincolnDD]

It would be interesting to hear what conversations are going on behind closed doors. Could the Brewers try to "move" the Mudcats back up to AA, where they spent a couple of decades, and attempt to "buy low" a Carolina League replacement for them like Hickory or Pulaski? The Rangers may want to keep Spokane (likely moving to low-A) as an affiliate and the Yankees would likely keep their high-A affiliate in Tampa.

 

Requesting Carolina to AA seems plausible, like the Mets want to do in Brooklyn. That's the kind of stuff I expect to see.

[MadThinker88]

It would be interesting to hear what conversations are going on behind closed doors. Could the Brewers try to "move" the Mudcats back up to AA, where they spent a couple of decades, and attempt to "buy low" a Carolina League replacement for them like Hickory or Pulaski? The Rangers may want to keep Spokane (likely moving to low-A) as an affiliate and the Yankees would likely keep their high-A affiliate in Tampa.

 

Requesting Carolina to AA seems plausible, like the Mets want to do in Brooklyn. That's the kind of stuff I expect to see.

 

Carolina to AA only makes sense with a lot of other realignment..

 

Brooklyn does make sense to AA as Eastern league might be dropping Erie, Pa & Binghamton, NY

[balsamlaker]

If I had to make a guess today, I would actually guess that Brooklyn and a couple of other NY/Penn teams move into low-A kicking 2-3 SAL teams into the Southern League, including Columbia for the Mets. This is how I could see the Brewers having an interest in a team like Hickory that they could kick from the SAL to the Carolina League and then moving Carolina into the Southern League. Like I said in a previous post, there are a lot of dominoes considering there are likely only about fourteen teams joining affiliate ball between low-A through AAA.