Minor League Baseball is a major attraction for this region. But the future of some of those teams is threatened under a plan unveiled last fall.
The proposal to cut more than 40 class-A teams includes several teams in Virginia.
Major League Baseball says it’s looking for ways to upgrade minor league facilities, and realign where some players are located. The two sides are nearing the end of their Professional Baseball Agreement, or PBA, expiring after the 2020 season.
Kevin Reichard, publisher of the online Ballpark Digest, says it's been almost a decade since negotiations were held on the last PBA, and the last time, that agreement was simply extended.
"This time, Major League Baseball came to the negotiations armed for bear," he said, with plans to eliminate 42 teams, including all but one in the rookie-league level Appalachian League.
With this plan, Major League Baseball says it's looking for ways to upgrade minor league facilities, and realign where some of the players are located.
The list of 42 teams was listed in November in the New York Times. The list includes the Appalachian League’s Danville Braves, Bristol Pirates, and Bluefield Blue Jays.
As for the facilities, Reichard says MLB is not talking about anything costly, primarily weight rooms and clubhouse space. But he says the demands have been vague.
"They never told minor league baseball teams what they expect out of facilities," Reichard said. "Major League Baseball has never come out and said, 'here's what we want, can you meet this?' Instead, the reaction has been 'we should eliminate these teams because they don't meet a standard we have not stated yet."
Reichard also says minor league owners aren't taking seriously a plan to transform the targerted teams into 'Dream League' teams. "Basically, they're looking for a development system that they don't have to pay for on the major league side," he said.
Those coming out against the MLB proposal have included minor league owners, local officials, and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, including Vermont Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, and Virginia Republican Congressman Morgan Griffith, who was among more than 100 members of Congress who signed a letter opposing contraction. A few of them, including West Virginia Republican David McKinley and Democrat Lori Trehan of Massachusetts have formed the 'Save Minor League Baseball Task Force.'
“Southwest Virginians enjoy watching our Minor League Baseball teams, and we also value them as venues for family-friendly recreation and as assets for the local economy," Congressman Griffith said, in a statement. "I am concerned that cutting Minor League teams would be a significant loss for the communities in which they play."
The list of 42 teams has not included the Appalachian League's Pulaski Yankees. Reichard says if the contraction plan were to proceed without that team, it could theoretically be moved to the low-A Sally League, or South Atlantic League.
Despite the reportedly contentious tone when Major League Baseball officials met with minor league owners during the recent major league winter meetings, Reichard says negotiations have actually not been rancorous. The minor league side was asked there to bring a counterproposal.
"I think there was a feeling on both sides that things need to settle down a little bit, and let some cooler heads prevail," he said. "And then again, Major League Baseball is in no hurry to push this through."
