Though we’ve been discussing this for months, we saw the official word come down today: Minor League Baseball is canceled for 2020, but things are going to get much worse over the next six-to-eight months during the expected contraction.
We reported last Tuesday that we expected to receive official word the season would be canceled in the coming week, and sure enough it was a week later. This is not remotely a surprise, no matter what the kings of Twitter tell you: owners have been very open about the season being canceled for several weeks now, and all that remained was the timing of the announcement, not the existence of the plan. The word came not from MLB but MiLB, as a statement indicated that MLB officially informed Minor League Baseball that it would be providing players for the 2020 season.
“These are unprecedented times for our country and our organization as this is the first time in our history that we’ve had a summer without Minor League Baseball played,” said MiLB President/CEO Pat O’Conner in a press statement. “While this is a sad day for many, this announcement removes the uncertainty surrounding the 2020 season and allowed our teams to begin planning for an exciting 2021 season of affordable family entertainment.”
Well…most teams. We saw the vast majority of teams go through dramatic layoffs in the last month, including several long-term broadcasters and C-level folks like the Daytona Tortugas’ Ryan Keur. So this was totally expected. But with the current Professional Baseball Agreement set to end in September, the next issue is even more existential, with 40-42 teams slated to be slashed by Major League Baseball. Many of the teams sending out press releases today won’t be around next year. If you’re sad today, just wait until the fall: it will get much worse before it gets better.
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