Typically, I try to give our readers my best analysis, staying away from the “I think’s” and simply let the facts speak for themselves. But with MLB’s draft decision coming yesterday, along with last month’s agreement between MLB and MiLB to dismantle over 40 minor league teams in the near future, I’m going to have to make an exception.

There are plenty more important things the world is worrying about right now, I know, but I love baseball (more than pretty much anything on God’s green Earth), and I’m scared for its future.

It has nothing to do with a shortened season or any weird quirks that may be implemented for 2020. I accept and understand that this is the best time to experiment, and frankly I will just be happy to put on a Mets game at all this year. What does keep me up at night (yes, I do lose sleep over it) is that the people in charge of a game I treasure more than words either don’t understand or really don’t care about the future of their league.

The more the pandemic continues, the more it feels as though Mr. Manfred is totally out of touch with what makes his sport tick. His idea of “growing the game” seems much less like growing baseball and more so keeping money in the league’s pockets. I want to believe that the commissioner and his people only want what is best for the league, but when they continue to show us that their decisions only benefit in the short-term, how can we trust them with the future of our game?

If they have the game’s best interest at heart, then why cut down a draft that we know produces some of the game’s best talent (Jacob deGrom, Jeff McNeil, and Mike Piazza to name a few) in the late rounds, down to only five? What does that say to the nearly 1,000 amateur players who could have been drafted this year, who now can only be signed for a maximum of $20,000 if they aren’t taken in five measly rounds?

You can tell us it’s to save money, but for a league that made an estimated $10 billion last season, no one is buying that poor excuse. We know that many front offices across baseball saw this as a detriment to their team’s future success, but MLB decided not to listen and keep the money in their wallets instead.

Don’t worry, the MLBPA isn’t off the hook either. For a union that holds themselves in such high regards in taking care of their players, it seems like all they really care for are the players with big league salaries – which might be the most upsetting part of it all. Considering every big leaguer started in the minor leagues, and knowing what the fate of MiLB looked like for some time, the MLBPA could have stepped up for their voiceless peers two months ago during negotiations for 2020, but instead only chose to take care of themselves.

I am truly scared of how these nearsighted decisions by so many in baseball will impact its future. What frightens me even more is that the folks in charge aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, and will only continue to do more harm to this great game. How can we expect our younger generations to want to play ball when it’s so clear the leaders of the game only care about keeping their money?

This makes me so very sad, and feel so helpless. All we want is to know that the people in charge care as much about keeping this game alive and thriving as we do. Why is that so hard for them to grasp? I can only speak for myself, but I promise that as long as I have a voice and a platform, I’ll do everything in my power to continue speaking out against the powers that be and their detrimental decisions.

We won’t let them ruin baseball without a fight.