NEW YORK – Major League Baseball has reorganized its minor leagues into a regional lineup of 120 teams.
MLB on Friday launched a plan for two Triple-A divisions and three divisions for Double-A, high-A and low-A each. Forty members have resigned since 2019, the last season under the old minor league system, and the remaining teams have been offered 10-year licenses in December. All 120 were accepted by Wednesday.
The leagues have not yet been named. Major league owners, Commissioner Rob Manfred and his staff have not decided whether to keep the traditional names of the leagues, such as the International and Pacific Coast at Triple-A, East, South and Texas at Double-A and California, Florida State and the Atlantic. South, who had been in class A.
For now, MLB names the minor league groups Triple-A East and West, Double-A Central, North-East and South, High-A Central, East and West and Low-A East, South-East and West. There are geographical subdivisions in each league.
Triple-A teams remain scheduled to open 144-game programs for the time being in early April, but will be rejected until early May due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Double-A teams, scheduled for 138 games each, and the high-A and low-A teams, with 132 games each, will open in early May.
The top minor leagues are likely to spend April at alternative training camps, used by MLB teams to keep potential calls in shape last year, when the entire minor league program was canceled due to the virus.
Regular season schedules will be announced next week. The programs will be regionalized and will include a series of six games to reduce travel and reduce spending, a person familiar with the planning told the Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity, as that detail was not announced.
Post-season minor league formats have not yet been established due to the pandemic.
The first four affiliates of each franchise will include a team in Triple-A, Double-A, high-A and low-A. Additional clubs are allowed at the spring training complexes and in the Dominican Republic.
MLB has concluded the Professional Baseball Agreement that governs the relationship between adults and minors. The minors are led from the MLB office in New York under the supervision of Peter Woodfork, the new senior vice president of minor league operations and development, taking over from the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues in Florida, which had governed minors since 1901.
The New York-Penn League, which began in 1939, was eliminated, and the Pioneer League, founded in the same year, lost its affiliate status and became an independent partner league. The Appalachian League has been transformed into a summer circuit of the college for two-year-olds and two-year-olds.
MLB said the major league teams will be an average of 200 miles closer to their Triple-A affiliates, allowing the majority to be within driving distance of their parent team and PDL licenses will improve facilities.
Salaries for players with minor league contracts increase from 38% to 72%. The weekly minimum increases from $ 290 to $ 400 for beginners, from $ 290 to $ 500 for Class A, $ 350 to $ 600 for Double-A and $ 502 for $ 700 for Triple-A. For players on the 40-man roster, with optional or direct duties to minors, the minimum is covered by the collective bargaining agreement of the Major League Baseball Players Association and increases from $ 46,000 to $ 46,600 for a player who signs his first major league contract. For a player who signs a second contract or later in the major leagues, the minimum increases from $ 91,800 to $ 93,000.
Including four partner leagues of non-farm teams in the major leagues – the Atlantic League, the American Association, the Border League and the Pioneer League – and a pair of leagues showcasing players preparing for the next amateur draft – the Appalachian League and MLB Draft League – The MLB system for 2021 will have 179 teams in 17 leagues in 43 states. Add the two complex spring training leagues – the Arizona League and the Gulf Coast Leagues – and there will be 209 teams in 19 leagues in 44 states and four provinces.