It all started with a list of 42 teams that should be kicked out of affiliated ball. Now a year later, what is the status? How many of these 42 teams have really been kicked out of Minor League Baseball? The following leagues and their teams are not affiliated anymore. They have been demoted to…
According to the Asahi (Sunrise) Shimbun, former MLB star Ichiro Suzuki will coach a Japanese high school team. At the end of this year, Ichiro will be at the helm of a team that has won the national championship at least once. It has always been a dream of the Japanese star to manage a…
Over the past days, several news outlets talked about the fact that the St. Paul Saints will join the Minnesota Twins organization. But only one outlet announced the teams have hammered out a deal. With the deal in place, this gives the Twins a big flexibility regarding roster moves and dealing with players on the…
According to baseball.it, UnipolSai Bologna and ParmaClima will represent Italy next year at the 2021 European Champions Cup. Of course, Bologna will be a representative as Italian champion. Parma, on the other hand, finished third and did not make the Italian Series. The Italian Series were played between Bologna and T&A San Marino. But since…
After the Houston Astros announced they would drop their AAA affiliate Round Rock Express in favour of the then independent Sugar Land Skeeters, the question arose who would fill the void the Astros left. Several sources are saying that the Texas Rangers are close to hammer out a deal with the AAA Pacific Coast League…
According to local newspaper the Fresno Bee, MLB has given the Fresno Grizzlies more time to find a solution for the stalemate the club is in right now. How much time the club will get is not clear. Major League Baseball has given the Fresno Grizzlies more time to work out the fate of the…
Next to the announcement of the Draft League, earlier today, MLB came with another press release today. In this press release it was unveiled that the Pioneer League will continue to exist. Not as an affiliated league but as an independent partner league of MLB. According to the press release, the Pioneer League will transition…
Major League Baseball came out with a press release, presenting a new league, the so called Draft League. In this league, the former AA Trenton Thunder and three New York-Penn League members (West Virginia Black Bears, State College Spikes, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, and the Williamsport CrossCutters) will participate. Talks about a sixth team are…
Just a few minutes ago, I learned that fellow (minor league) blogger John Calvagno passed away. Six days ago, John was hospitalized because of sepsis, a blood infection. He was kept in a coma but eventually lost the battle. John was a valued member of the baseball community and writer/owner of the blog “Notes from…
With the realignment of Minor League Baseball, yours truly mostly sees a negative outcome. But is the promotion of the Northwest League to high A, a bad thing perse? Not really. Here is my take on the development. Personally, I think the main challenge the Northwest League will deal with is the weather at the…
