Minor League Baseball Team Owner Opens up About Potential 2020 Season and Proposed Cuts

As word gets around on Monday about MLB's recently-ratified (by ownership only!) proposal for the 2020 season, it feels like as good a time as any to remind ourselves that there's a lot more to baseball in this country than just the game's highest level.

With minor-league baseball's alignment and future very much in flux long before the coronavirus pandemic began, public health concerns have only further unmoored the conglomeration of teams, and what works for MLB is quite unlikely to translate to its many lower-level affiliates.

"All we know is hearsay -- there hasn't been a lot shared about the plans for minor-league baseball this year," said Rick French, owner of the High-A Daytona Tortugas, affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. "I think a lot of us have been resigned to a lack of a season."

But, through all of this, the contract that stipulates Major League Baseball provide their affiliated teams with players is still valid, leading to a strange tug-of-war on the horizon, as the league toys with 30-man rosters and taxi squads for their 2020 campaign.

"We haven't heard that because there's been so little information put forward, and I'm not sure if the contentious labor negotiations have contributed to this cone of silence," French said. "The feeling is, if you look at the Advanced-A level, our players would certainly not end up on a Taxi Squad or an extended roster. It would be Triple-A players. Then, are Double-A players called up to Triple-A, and so forth? It gets messy from there."

That "contentious" relationship, dating back far beyond last fall when the potential elimination of 40-plus teams first leaked, will not prevent minor-league teams from playing if asked, however, though the solution of "empty stadium baseball" simply isn't viable at any level below the bigs.

"Now, if that's what MLB decided, we would certainly be good partners to the sport and do what's asked of us," French said of playing sans-audience. "But I don't think MLB would ask that of us, to assume that cost burden without fans."

Each minor-league franchise is handling the ongoing shutdown differently. Some, like Daytona, are proceeding as if there will be a season because that's the only world they know, finishing stadium improvements and taking care of their employees. Other teams, however, don't have such capabilities. Every franchise, much like every stadium, is unique. Some are historic jewels. Some are modern marvels. Many are fixer-uppers. That doesn't mean we love them any less.

As we move into an uncertain future, with many teams still potentially on the chopping block, especially as minor-league baseball capitulates to the big leagues amid financial turmoil, there is plenty that local fans can do to show their love and support.

"Keep the faith. Baseball is America's Pastime, and I think fans in all of these markets have done a really good job of making their voices heard, and I think that's going to mean something in the end," French reiterated. "It's going to be about showing that baseball in and of itself is not owned by the major leagues. It's an ecosystem, and it grows into what becomes fandom. If the fans keep showing that minor league baseball is important to their communities, that's probably the best thing they can do. The single most important thing is not giving up the fight."