Tim Rogers
J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group has begun reporting on the changes that looks to be happening with the Dodgers minor league affiliates. J.P. was clear in further tweets that nothing is finalized.
The Dodgers will be affiliating with a High-A team in Spokane, Washington, as part of the broad changes coming to minor league baseball. An official announcement is expected on/around Dec. 1: https://t.co/MZme6cuUYu
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) November 19, 2020
What Is Happening?
The good news for the hometown fans is that both Oklahoma City and Tulsa remain with the Dodgers as the AAA and AA teams. The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes would also stay as a Dodgers’ affiliate but will be their Low-A team. The bad news is that Ogden and Great Lakes will no longer be affiliated with the Dodgers. The last question to be answered is who will be the High-A team? Right now it is being reported as Spokane but that is getting reports of not being true. There will no longer be a short-season team. Ogden was where most of the new draft picks were sent.
So, where did all this come from? The major league teams have decided to do a complete revamping of the minor leagues.They are removing approximately 42 teams. Ouch! There are some other items that have leaked out such as some better pay structures and higher standards for the facilities. Minor leaguers are known to be underpaid so maybe there are some positives.
The negatives are large though. Losing over 40 teams is bad for those cities. A lot of people will no longer be working in baseball. This will also mean that there will more than 1000 less spots available for young players. There is also some chatter that the clubhouse workers will be paid differently and will also be required to go on the road with the team. That could be chaotic for the “cubbies”. They might be getting less pay yet have to work more and now it will be tougher for them to work a second job.
Final Thoughts
The re-organization of the minor leagues is still a big unknown that will come together soon. We’ll keep you posted here and via our Twitter account.
