I’m sorry, but they went from like 160 to 120 affiliated teams in the United States and the vast majority of the teams that lost affiliation still exist as unaffiliated or college league teams. This is hardly an “evisceration”
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The degree of difference between A and Unaffiliated is pretty important here. Salem-Keizer as a short-A affiliate of the Giants was pretty cool; Salem-Keizer in The Maverick League is nice, but it's not even close to the same in terms of competitiveness and history.
aug 5, 2025, 7:51 pm • 1 0 • view
I can see the idea that the talent level would drop somewhat, but the reason those SS teams were the ones cut were they tended to be holding grounds for failed/failing prospects who weren’t good enough for A ball. Top prospects tended to move through those teams fast.
aug 6, 2025, 6:27 am • 0 0 • view
Relegating teams to unaffiliated or college leagues isn't a lateral move, it's a massive downgrade in visibility, talent, and revenue. This was a top-down decision driven by billionaire owners trying to cut costs at the expense of small-town America.
aug 5, 2025, 11:57 pm • 1 0 • view
Except here’s what has actually happened…
aug 6, 2025, 6:40 am • 0 0 • view
aug 6, 2025, 7:30 am • 0 0 • view