Image of the Oakland A’s minor league affiliate the Vermont Lake Monsters a team that is on the bubble of folding due to MLB directives of closing minor league teams (image from thinkvermont.com)

Realignment: A’s Class A Team in Vermont affected

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Major League Baseball announced the elimination of more than 40 affiliated teams (Minor Leagues). This leaves 120 affiliated teams which breaks down to four per each MLB franchise.

MLB announcement mentions that all 120 teams have signed what is now a Professional Development License, and these agreements are going to be for at least ten years, not the two or four years they previously had.

According to MLB, many affiliates will be in much closer geographic proximity. On average, the report says that the MLB clubs will now be over 200 miles closer to their Triple-A affiliates.

Looks like that the previous long-standing names of “International League, “Pacific Coast League”, “Midwest League” and Florida State League will disappear according to this new alignment. The local economical impact will be substantial in these cities that now will not have any minor league team.

Among those cities the Oakland Athletics affiliate, the Vermont Lake Monsters located in Burlington, Vermont. They played their games at the University of Vermont’s Centennial Field, but were inactive last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Lake Monsters have been an affiliate. Class A Short Season, of the Oakland Athletics since 2011.

Bernie Sanders, US Senator for the State of Vermont, who last year showed his displeasure with the proposed elimination of the Vermont minor league franchise said: “If the multimillionaire owners of Major League Baseball have enough money to pay hundreds of millions in compensation to a single superstar baseball player,” Sanders said, “they have enough money to prevent 40 minor league teams from shutting down in Vermont and all over this country.”

The State of Vermont has a population of 623,989 as of 2019; Burlington is the most populated city with 42,545 residents. The elimination of this team is bound to hurt the local economy in many ways.

This is the statement by Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred: “We are excited to unveil this new model, which not only provides a pipeline to the Majors, but continues the Minor Leagues’ tradition of entertaining millions of families in hundreds of communities.

In modernizing our Minor League system, we prioritized the qualities that make the Minor Leagues such an integral part of our game while strengthening how we develop professional athletes on and off the field.

We look forward to demonstrating the best of our game throughout local communities, supporting all those who are working hard to grow the sport, and sharing unrivaled technology and resources with minor league teams and players.”

The release says that all minor leagues in this affiliated system will have salary increases of 38 to 72 percent. It is expected that MLB will take over merchandising, broadcast and sponsorship rights, splitting net revenues 50-50 with the minor league clubs.

Definitely not the news that most people like to hear, especially baseball fans and people involved in the business of the national pastime. All over the country and especially at this time, where the economy is still bleeding from the covid-19 pandemic.

Stay well and stay tuned.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Hall of Fame Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com