Detroit Tigers: Minor League Baseball seeing unprecedented cuts
By Tyler Kotila
While the Detroit Tigers continue to wait for resolved issues to return to play, Minor League Baseball has begun to be decimated amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Detroit Tigers are still unable to return to the field. At the same time, Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Player’s Association (MLBPA) battle it out. For now, it is Minor League Baseball (MiLB) that’s seeing effects.
It sucks to say, but MiLB teams are at risk of being decimated because of the effects that COVID-19 is having on MLB organizations. It is not just the Tigers but all of the big league organizations that are in financial limbo because of the pandemic.
That being said, while MLB owners and the MLBPA continue to duel it out over finances, the MiLB organizations are going to continue to make cuts. The first wave of this came in terms of players being cut in double, possibly triple the amount that they usually are, ending players’ careers.
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Keep in mind; each organization has all of these affiliates that may now be hanging in the balance with cuts being made around Minor League Baseball.
Players being cut right now is the first step in a decimation path that could see teams begin to fold in a system that was already falling apart.
Before the pandemic raising hell across the MiLB, there had been talking of eliminating teams across the country from various levels of MLB organizations.
Currently, here is a list of all nine of the Detroit Tigers affiliates:
- Triple-A: Toledo Mud Hens
- Double-A: Erie SeaWolves
- Single-A: Lakeland Flying Tigers
- Class-A: West Michigan Whitecaps
- Class-A Short-Season: Norwich Sea Unicorns
- Rookie League: Gulf Coast League (GCL) Tigers East
- Rookie League: GCL Tigers West
- Foreign Rookie League: Dominican Summer League (DSL) Tigers 1
- Foreign Rookie League: DSL Tigers 2
With nine affiliates across the Tigers organization, cuts to this list could very well be made. Cutting players seems to be the first step in the plans to keep the organization’s afloat across MiLB leagues and teams. However, the complete folding of teams could also happen.
This may be the “worst-case” scenario across the board, but it seems that it could happen the way things are being handled. With the big boys in a fight, the MiLB organizations are going to continue to suffer during this time.
Until MLB owners and MLBPA reps can come together to get baseball on the field, this is going to continue to happen. The worst part about it is that it has been assumed that the MiLB season is going to be canceled, which will set off another round of cuts between players and organizations.
While the MiLB is in an unstable state, the Major League Baseball teams are approaching the 2020 MLB Draft, and bringing in players to an organization will be trickier than it has in the past. Placing these players into their minor league system could be tricky, especially if with no season.
Teams who are looking to sign undrafted free agents may be ending the careers of some minor leaguers as the new “draft” class would replace them. Simply put, things are going to get ugly for MiLB teams and players.
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Cutting players at an alarming rate is only the beginning; when it is all said and done, the Detroit Tigers may not have MiLB affiliates.