Now that the minor league structure has been finalized for 2021, 120 teams have been invited to become affiliates of Major League Baseball. But many of these teams are not happy with the way MLB has handled this situation.
“Have spoken with at least two dozen other owners this evening,” an owner said on Wednesday night, per a story from Evan Drellich of The Athletic. “One group call, several other individual. It is universal rage towards MLB.”
The main thing that owners are frustrated about is the fact that they believe MLB does not have enough understanding of the impact that their decisions have on the business side for these teams. The recent events have not left minor league owners with a ton of time to organize their teams, though MLB generally feels that they gave teams plenty of input beforehand.
MLB sent each team their terms and agreements, which they have until Dec. 18 to sign or not. Many teams are still skeptical of accepting these terms, though to what extent varies from team to team. While most of these teams are certainly discussing this behind closed doors, the Tacoma Rainiers actually made a public statement on the matter, which can be found here.
Drellich notes in his article that multiple lawsuits of MLB are likely to happen. Minor League Baseball’s Board of Trustees could also get involved, but what is not yet known is how many teams, leagues, or even levels will get involved in this debacle.
What is known, however, is that many minor league teams are not happy with the proposed partnerships. Stay tuned to Metsmerized as more drama ensues.
