MLB Invites 120 Teams To Join Minor Leagues In 2021
On the second Wednesday in December, Major League Baseball took yet another step toward completing the most dramatic change in the minor leagues in at least half a century.
On Dec. 9, MLB invited 120 minor league teams to join its Professional Development Leagues. While there had been talks between negotiating teams from Minor League Baseball and MLB for many months, this pivotal moment, which will shape the structure of the minor leagues, was a unilateral decision. MiLB had no significant input into which teams were invited to be affiliates and which ones were not.
That appears to be by design. After months of talks, MLB made it clear it is setting up its own system. Based on feedback from minor league clubs, MLB has been willing to tweak aspects of the rules and guidelines it will use, but the structure has been set up by MLB and MLB alone.
As 2020 ended, there was no certainty that the 120 teams MLB invited would be the same 120 that take the field in 2021. To join MLB’s system, minor league teams will have to agree to sign a 10-year Professional Development License. They will also have to waive any right to sue MLB.
It’s possible some teams will balk, either by simply refusing to sign individually or by banding together as a group to attempt to get some aspects of the PDLs altered.
But nobody Baseball America talked to in the lead-up to or aftermath of the Dec. 9 invitation had any doubts that MLB will field a minor league system of its own design going forward. The questions revolve around whether it will be with the 120 teams that were invited or whether some teams will decline, in which case MLB would replace them with willing teams.
Below is the full list of 120 teams MLB invited to join the minors in 2021.
RELATED
- Four factors dominate MLB’s list of 120 invited teams. We explain why.
- A complete guide to MLB, MiLB negotiations over the last two years
- How The New Landscape Changes From A Fan’s Perspective
- Why Franchise Values, Local Business Relationships Could Take A Hit
-
Players Stand To Gain From New System
Baseball America has been able to confirm the 120 invitations. They are:
MLB Team AAA AA HiA LoA Arizona Diamondbacks Reno Amarillo Hillsboro Visalia Atlanta Braves Gwinnett Mississippi Rome Augusta Baltimore Orioles Norfolk Bowie Aberdeen Delmarva Boston Red Sox Worcester Portland Greenville Salem Chicago White Sox Charlotte Birmingham Winston-Salem Kannapolis Chicago Cubs Iowa Tennessee South Bend Myrtle Beach Cincinnati Reds Louisville Chattanooga Dayton Daytona Cleveland Indians Columbus Akron Lake County Lynchburg Colorado Rockies Albuquerque Hartford Spokane Fresno Detroit Tigers Toledo Erie West Michigan Lakeland Houston Astros Sugar Land Corpus Christi Asheville Fayetteville Kansas City Royals Omaha Northwest Arkansas Quad Cities Columbia Los Angeles Angels Salt Lake Rocket City Tri-City (Wash.) Inland Empire Los Angeles Dodgers Oklahoma City Tulsa Great Lakes Rancho Cucamonga Miami Marlins Jacksonville Pensacola Beloit Jupiter Milwaukee Brewers Nashville Biloxi Wisconsin Carolina Minnesota Twins St. Paul Wichita Cedar Rapids Fort Myers New York Yankees Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Somerset Hudson Valley Tampa New York Mets Syracuse Binghamton Brooklyn St. Lucie Oakland Athletics Las Vegas Midland Lansing Stockton Philadelphia Phillies Lehigh Valley Reading Jersey Shore Clearwater Pittsburgh Pirates Indianapolis Altoona Greensboro Bradenton San Diego Padres El Paso San Antonio Fort Wayne Lake Elsinore San Francisco Giants Sacramento Richmond Eugene San Jose Seattle Mariners Tacoma Arkansas Everett Modesto St. Louis Cardinals Memphis Springfield Peoria Palm Beach Tampa Bay Rays Durham Montgomery Bowling Green Charleston, S.C. Texas Rangers Round Rock Frisco Hickory Down East Toronto Blue Jays Buffalo New Hampshire Vancouver Dunedin Washington Nationals Rochester Harrisburg Wilmington Fredericksburg If every team accepts their invitations, which is not a given and will not be completed for some time, here is how the various leagues would be divided. The names of these leagues are also likely to be determined, but in the case of leagues that have long been known by their current names, we used them for now as placeholders. So the Texas League may or may not be known as the Texas League under the new system, but almost all the teams in the new league will be coming from what was the Texas League.
Triple-A would have one 20-team East/Midwest league and one 10-team West league if all teams accept their invitations and sign the Professional Development Licenses.
Triple-A East/Midwest West Buffalo Albuquerque Charlotte El Paso Columbus Las Vegas Durham Oklahoma City Gwinnett Reno Indianapolis Round Rock Iowa Sacramento Jacksonville Salt Lake Lehigh Valley Sugar Land Louisville Tacoma Memphis Nashville Norfolk Omaha Rochester Scranton/Wilkes-BarreSt. Paul Syracuse Toledo Worcester
Double-A will have three leagues, one if the upper Midwest/East, one in the South and one in the Texas-Oklahoma-Arkansas-Kansas area.Double-A Eastern League Southern League Texas League Akron Biloxi Amarillo Altoona Birmingham Arkansas Binghamton Chattanooga Corpus Christi Bowie Mississippi Frisco Erie Montgomery Midland Harrisburg Pensacola Northwest ArkansasHartford Rocket City San Antonio New Hampshire Tennessee Springfield Portland Tulsa Reading Wichita Richmond Somerset High Class A will see several leagues shuffle. The previously short-season Northwest League teams join high Class A and the Midwest League’s teams will be moving up from low Class A. The 12-team Mid-Atlantic League is likely to have the most difficult travel. If all 12 teams sign their PDLs, it will have a seven-team division in the south and a five-team division in the north, which means there will always have to be intradivisional play.
High Class A Mid-Atlantic Midwest Northwest Aberdeen Beloit Eugene Asheville Cedar Rapids Everett Bowling Green Dayton Hillsboro Brooklyn Fort Wayne Spokane Greensboro Great Lakes Tri-City (Wash.) Greenville Lake County Vancouver Hickory Lansing Hudson Valley Peoria Jersey Shore Quad Cities Rome South Bend Wilmington West Michigan Winston-Salem Wisconsin
Low Class A will have three leagues. The California League moves down from high Class A to low Class A, as does the Florida State League. The league in the Southeast will be comprised of many teams from the South Atlantic League but also some teams that are switching over from the Carolina League.Low Class A California Florida State South Atlantic Fresno Bradenton Augusta Inland Empire Clearwater Carolina Lake Elsinore Daytona Charleston, S.C. Modesto Dunedin Columbia Rancho Cucamonga Fort Myers Delmarva San Jose Jupiter Down East Stockton Lakeland Fayetteville Visalia Palm Beach Fredericksburg St. Lucie Kannapolis Tampa Lynchburg Myrtle Beach Salem There are 12 full season affiliated teams that did not receive invites.
Double-A: Jackson Generals (Southern), Trenton Thunder (Eastern)
High Class A: Charlotte Stone Crabs (Florida State), Florida Fire Frogs (Florida State), Frederick Keys (Carolina), Lancaster (California)
Low Class A: Burlington Bees (Midwest), Clinton LumberKings (Midwest), Hagerstown Suns (South Atlantic), Lexington Legends (South Atlantic), Kane County Cougars (Midwest), West Virginia Power (South Atlantic)
Comments are closed.