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Something Different

by Russell Dyas

The other week college baseball was on MLB.TV and this prompted a short discussion about some of the subtle differences between college and MLB baseball with BaseballGB owner Matt.  Away from the majors, there is a whole host of baseball played from high school baseball to the Minors.  At some point in the future, I will return to high school & college baseball but I will focus on the Minors for the next few weeks.

The Minor baseball system runs all year round but a majority of the teams run a season alongside the main MLB season.  The Minors are there to help develop future MLB players with a majority of teams being affiliated with an MLB organisation.  One of the biggest differences compared to MLB is the amount of leagues. Currently in the Minors there are 20 leagues with a total of 246 clubs split into a number of classifications.

There are five classifications of minor leagues that are associated with the MLB and then various independent leagues:

AAA (Triple A)

This is the last stop before the big leagues as most teams in this class are made up of the last 15 players from an MLB 40-person major league roster.  The major league teams will call up people from this class to fill positions throughout the season and this is the reason this class is often called the ‘spares’ class.

Class AA (Double A)

This class is interesting as all but one league in this class split the season, which means they will play one half of the season and a team will get a playoff spot. Then they clear the standings and start again for the second half of the season with another team getting a playoff spot at the end.  Then wild cards decide the remaining places.

Class A

Class A is often called the ‘issues’ class, as you tend to find players are assigned to this class to deal with specific issues they are having. Batting constancy and pitching control are the two main issues why players end up playing in a Class A team.

Short-Season A

Leagues in this class play a shortened season running from June and then finishing in September.  The main reason for this short season is that most players in this league are drafted college players so it gives time for the College World Series to finish and gives team managers more time to decide on who to draft.

Rookie

This class also runs a short season.  Again, this is due to a number of high school drafts entering into this league.  It is the lowest of the classes to help players develop and due to very few spectators, there can be less pressure on the players.

Independents

There are also a number of independent leagues whose teams are not affiliated with MLB teams. Some of these are affiliated with other professional teams worldwide, such as Japanese teams.

As a rule the level of difficulty goes from Rookie (which is entry level) to Triple A which is the last stop before the majors.  Players in the Minors will move between teams that will move them up or down the classes but there are few exceptions, such as major league players being allowed to play a few weeks in a Minors team if they are on the disabled list as part of rehab. These players will go to the nearest affiliated minor club to the team’s home stadium.

Which of the classifications do you find the most interesting to follow?

For more info, see: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com

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5 comments

Matt Smith March 15, 2009 - 9:38 am

Hi Russ. I’m not the most knowledgable person when it comes to the Minor Leagues, so this has taught me quite a few new things. In particular, I didn’t know Double-A was played under a split-season rule.

One of the things we discussed when the college baseball was on MLB.tv was the dreaded ‘ping’ sound of the ball on metal bat. Do all of these leagues play with a wooden bat?

Reply
Russell Dyas March 15, 2009 - 10:28 am

Hi Matt

Short-season and rookies can play with approved composite bats to help them transfer to wooden bats.

Also under a few classes there are sub classes but most people use the broad headings to discuss the classes.

Russ

Reply
Joe Gray March 15, 2009 - 11:45 am

I love the idea of the independent leagues. I think if I lived in the States I would be happier to live near an independent team than a Major League team. I just get the feeling that it would be more about baseball (and socializing) than ramming advertising down everyone’s throats.

I find the idea of supporting an affiliated Minor League team (unless you support its Major League team) a little difficult to get my head round. You don’t want your favourite players to do well, otherwise they will disappear to some other town in America with a team in the next level up.

Reply
Russell Dyas March 15, 2009 - 7:29 pm

@Joe I think that is one of appeals of the minors as players do move lot more than in majors it does then become more about the baseball and less about the players.

Don’t get me wrong not like they move every week. Also triple A pretty much stays constant unless odd players comes down or moves up etc.

Russ

Reply
Mark Tobin March 16, 2009 - 1:51 pm

All five Single A leagues play at split-season, as does the Pioneer League (Rookie) and most off the Independent Leagues do too.

Reply

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