Like a fart in an elevator, Major League Baseball's play to eliminate 42 minor-league affiliates is still floating out there and making everybody unhappy except the party who ushered it into the world.
When the contraction proposal first leaked a month ago, it seemed like a severe plan that could be whittled into something more palatable for Minor League Baseball, yet still productive for MLB. That's still possible, but so far there's been no sign of give, and the assessment of the situation from Baseball America's J.J. Cooper foreshadows an ugly fight ahead.
To put the issue in White Sox terms, the contraction of the Great Falls Voyagers runs the risk of exposing even stable, storied franchises like the Birmingham Barons, because the Player Development Contracts that every team prizes will no longer feel like a lock:
These owners worry that the drop from affiliated ball to the Dream Leagues would erase much of the value of those minor league clubs. And the minute it becomes established that PDCs can be eliminated, the value of the remaining MiLB teams will also plummet, because what has been seen as a permanent right will become a temporary one. [...]
And at the end of the day, there are some MiLB owners who wonder if decreasing the value of MiLB franchises is part of the point. MLB owners have purchased more and more MiLB teams in recent years. If the valuation of the clubs is cut dramatically by MLB’s proposal, it would make it easier for MLB to purchase now less-expensive minor league franchises and eliminate the middlemen.
As for Great Falls, they're one of numerous small short-season cities that have taken steps to modernize their facilities to serve the big-league clubs, so the Voyagers are bristling at the idea of the Dream League. The winter meetings already looked contentious between MLB and the union, and now it's going to set the stage for a two-front war.
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A couple other stories I wanted to point out before we forge into December:
Pete Abraham uses the Red Sox' hiring of a 32-year-old assistant hitting coach to launch an overview of all the nontraditional hirings around baseball. Major-league experience is becoming less and less a requirement, so much so that the Yankees and Cubs have hired a pair of Rachels as minor-league hitting instructors.
The White Sox haven't yet announced their player development staff. Specifically, I'm curious as to whether they're seeking a replacement for Matt Lisle, who has since landed with Fresno State's softball team.
Stephanie Apstein went through a lot this October, but she still managed to summon a defense of the sport, and specifically its slow pace. I'm also reading Ben Folds' autobiography, which also makes a case for the virtues of boredom. It's something I'm fascinated by, mostly because I want to know if there really is developmental value in making something out of nothing, or I'm just jealous that kids have easier ways to occupy themselves on long road trips.
