MLB to launch league for Draft prospects

Red(s)HawksFan

Red(s)HawksFan

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If I'm understanding this, it appears this league season runs from ~Memorial Day (end of collegiate season except CWS participants) through mid-August with an All Star break that coincides with the MLB break and the draft. I'm assuming most if not all the participants will end up drafted during that break meaning that the second half of the year may become a substitute for the short-season leagues that MLB is planning to eliminate. Other college summer leagues like Cape Cod will probably have to get by with future prospects who aren't yet draft eligible (post-freshman and post-sophomore season players) since the top juniors and seniors will probably go to this new league en route to the draft and an MLB organization.
 
NJ_Sox_Fan

NJ_Sox_Fan

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Here is the email I received about it from Trenton Thunder, whom the Yankees just ditched as their AA team. 68 game schedule from late May to mid August.
Major League Baseball in conjunction with MLB's partner, Prep Baseball Report (PBR), has announced the formation of the new MLB Draft League to complete MLB's 21st Century vision for minor league player development. Set to launch in 2021, the MLB-affiliated league will be anchored in NJ by the top-rated Trenton Thunder organization, and will be recognized as the Premier League in the country focused on baseball's top prospects eligible to be drafted by MLB Clubs each summer.

"We are thrilled to share with our fans and sponsor partners the exciting news that your Trenton Thunder will be a founding member of the new MLB Draft League for the 2021 season and continue to bring family fun to ARM & HAMMER Park," said Thunder GM/COO Jeff Hurley. "We are dedicated to delivering our Power of Fun brand to our fans as the Thunder Entertainment Experience they have enjoyed for the last 27 years, featuring the antics of our beloved mascot Boomer having a blast in the crowd. Fans will continue to enjoy our World Famous Bat Dogs retrieving bats, with Dash making his debut this summer. The new MLB Draft League will showcase the best prospects in baseball eligible for the MLB draft. Thunder fans will get to know these players as they begin their path as future stars of Major League Baseball."

"For legions of Trenton Thunder fans, the development of a new league showcasing up and coming talent will be a real thrill. Major League Baseball's success is built on a thriving minor league system, and for 27 years Thunder supporters have visited our Capital City, warmly welcoming new players and proudly cheering others on to the big leagues. Mercer County has made wise investments into the ballpark - benefitting both the fans and players - and the new Trenton Thunder team will be developed in a first-class facility. This news is a win for everyone - The Thunder, Mercer County, the City of Trenton, and especially baseball fans, and we look forward to a great season."
-- Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes

"This is great news for the Thunder and proves the resiliency of the city of Trenton and Mercer County. The Thunder has a rich history as a winning franchise which provides family entertainment at an affordable price in a great location for baseball fans throughout the region. Trenton's rich industrial heritage proved Trenton Makes, the World Takes. This tradition continues with the creation of the MLB Draft League as The Thunder Makes, MLB Takes."
-- Greater Trenton Chief Executive Officer George Sowa

The Trenton Thunder, presented by NJM Insurance Group, continues its award-winning Entertainment Experience as the action packed summer place to be and will be joined by the Williamsport Crosscutters, Mahoning Valley Scrappers, State College Spikes and West Virginia Black Bears, also all MLB-affiliated teams, as hand-selected founding members of the MLB Draft League. MLB is in advanced negotiations with more teams to be announced in the coming weeks.

The MLB Draft will be simulcasted in a closed-circuit telecast live from ARM & HAMMER Park as part of MLB All-Star Week in mid-July. The MLB Draft League's rosters are filled with draft-eligible players who will have a unique opportunity to showcase their abilities and gain exposure to other MLB clubs and crowds of Thunder fans each year.

The MLB Draft League will feature an exciting jammed packed 68-game regular season, scheduled to run from late May to mid-August with an annual All-Star Break centered around the MLB Draft and featuring our Thunder players. Players will receive unprecedented visibility to MLB scouts through in-person observation and state-of-the-art scouting technology, as well as instruction from former MLB players on the Thunder staff. Our professional baseball coaching staff will develop the skills of Thunder players, with the dream of one day adding their names to the nearly 400 Thunder players who have made it to the Big Leagues.[\quote]
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Bongorific

Bongorific

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This absorbed some of the NY-Penn league teams. I was hoping the Tri-City Valleycats were going to be one of them but it didn’t work out that way. They’ve been an Astros A affiliate for almost 20 years. Hoping they figure something else out.
 
Winger 03

Winger 03

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Red(s)HawksFan said:
Other college summer leagues like Cape Cod will probably have to get by with future prospects who aren't yet draft eligible (post-freshman and post-sophomore season players) since the top juniors and seniors will probably go to this new league en route to the draft and an MLB organization.
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Looks like MLB has that covered as well.....
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-continues-minor-league-overhaul-with-new-draft-league-and-repurposing-of-pioneer-league/

The important part of the article:
The Draft League's creation comes months after MLB repurposed the Appalachian League into a wooden-bat league for collegiate freshmen and sophomores, or individuals who aren't yet eligible for the draft. It's also the latest step in MLB's quest to control every aspect of American baseball, from the majors on down.
 
Mugsy's Jock

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Winger 03 said:
Looks like MLB has that covered as well.....
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-continues-minor-league-overhaul-with-new-draft-league-and-repurposing-of-pioneer-league/

The important part of the article:
The Draft League's creation comes months after MLB repurposed the Appalachian League into a wooden-bat league for collegiate freshmen and sophomores, or individuals who aren't yet eligible for the draft. It's also the latest step in MLB's quest to control every aspect of American baseball, from the majors on down.
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That's so infuriating. MLB's lack of appreciation for the Cape League has been criminal. I can't imagine the new Appalachian League is a significant revenue opportunity, though what do I know. Could they really sell franchises there for a couple of million each?
 
Fred not Lynn

Fred not Lynn

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Not only is MLB working to control revenue-generating baseball at all levels, they’re quietly shifting a whole band of the market to feature amateur players you don’t pay instead of professional players you do pay.

And while MLB fans don’t think of it as such, non-MLB baseball is a very viable revenue business when the correct entertainment experience is presented at the correct price point in the correct markets - and there are lots of “correct markets”.

MLB already owns Ruths Chris. Now they’re just taking over Denny’s...
 
Winger 03

Winger 03

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Frederick Keys A-Carolina League Orioles are the 6th invitee to this crap Draft League. Keys were in the top 60 in average attendance across all of MiLB.
 
cannonball 1729

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Dunno if any of you saw the Athletic's article, but it's...not good:

https://theathletic.com/2253333/2020/12/10/minor-league-owners-weigh-mlb-fight/
Quotes for those behind a paywall (though I highly recommend a subscription!):

Minor League Baseball owners have been steadily talking about their next steps now that 120 of them have been invited to become, in essence, a franchisee of Major League Baseball. There were mixed emotions for those that made the cut on Wednesday, when MLB formally sent out the offers: relief, even elation. But as the day passed and those owners digested exactly what MLB was offering, anger built as well.

“Have spoken with at least two dozen other owners this evening,” one owner said Wednesday night. “One group call, several other individual. It is universal rage towards MLB.”

The commissioner’s office expected some of those reactions. Whether anything comes of that disappointment is the biggest question, and there’s not a lot of time for minor league owners to organize — which might be their only chance to achieve any change, if they choose to pursue it. MLB has not signaled a willingness to make individual adjustments to the teams. The commissioner’s office feels that holding talks with that many teams would be impractical, and believes there was plenty of time for teams to make their voices heard previously. If a team wants to turn down the offer, then, MLB will just move down its list, a person with knowledge of league thinking said. Whether that’s a hard-and-fast policy, however, might now be tested.
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MLB sent a 56-page document to the teams it wants to partner with, outlining the substantive terms of what is to be in the actual 10-year contract, called a Professional Development License, or PDL. Teams have until Dec. 18 to decide whether they’d like to advance to the next step, which is a review of the actual PDL.

To move forward, MLB requires minor league owners to sign two things in the next week and a half: a non-disclosure agreement and an indemnification of MLB. To emphasize: Minor league owners at this point are not formally agreeing to be MLB’s partner. That comes once the actual PDL is reviewed. So the decision those teams face now, then, seems simple: if they’re considering a lawsuit against MLB, they’d be signing away those rights in order to review the full PDL.
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So MiLB teams have to sign away their rights in order to obtain the right to see a contract where they will likely sign away more of their rights.
 
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