Minor League Baseball

From SoSH

1 History
2 Affiliated Minor Leagues
3 Independent Minor Leagues
- 3.1 Winter Leagues
4 Defunct Minor Leagues
- 4.1 Defunct Affiliated Leagues
- 4.2 Defunct Independent Leagues

History

The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues formed in 1901 to jointly negotiate with the American and National Leagues on mutual respect of player contracts. The other leagues, having less money, were unable to keep their best players from being offered better contracts by the teams of the two major leagues. The National Agreement of 1903 between the National Association and the two major leagues set up a framework by which the major league teams would have to negotiate for players with the teams of the other leagues. Several baseball leagues never joined the National Association, remaining independent.

Over time, through the antitrust exemption for baseball, the Depression and later the rise of televised baseball, the minor leagues became financially dependent on the American and National Leagues, truly becoming the minor leagues. Each major league team eventually established a hierarchy of minor league teams for scouting and developing fresh talent: the "farm system".

[edit]

Affiliated Minor Leagues

The majority of the minor leagues are members of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, which is affiliated with Major League Baseball. Currently each major league team has one AAA, one AA, at least two A and at least one Rookie affiliate. With an affiliation contract in place, the major league team holds the contracts for and pays the salaries of the players, while the minor league team is responsible for operations and operational expenses.

These leagues are ranked by competitiveness, with AAA as the most competitive and Rookie as the least. AAA teams tend to be in larger cities that lack major league teams, and draw significant attendance; the Pawtucket Red Sox has averaged over 9,000 attendees per game in several recent seasons. Short-season rookie teams, by contrast, are clustered in major league teams' spring training complexes, don't market, don't charge fans to watch and don't bother tracking attendance.

AAA teams tend to hold players on reserve for their major league affiliates (on the 40-man roster but not the 25-man roster), plus major league players on rehabilitation starts. AA teams tend to have top prospects expected to join the major leagues soon. A Advanced and A teams are greener prospects and players who have significant development ahead of them. Short-season A leagues are composed mostly of college students starting right after finishing school. Rookie leagues are composed mostly of players fresh from high school or Latin America getting their first professional practice time.

[edit]

Independent Minor Leagues

Independent Baseball Leagues are those which do not have an affiliation with Major League Baseball. They have to pay their players salaries, but they are free from territorial limitations imposed by major league teams. Thus, the risks and the potential rewards for the owners are greater.

Independent Leagues do not have the security that the affiliated minor leagues do; all extant independent leagues have been founded in 1993 or later.