Will Norwich go the way of our ACC bid?

[Ha Who]

Senator urges MLB to save Norwich minor league team

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has become the latest Connecticut official to urge Major League Baseball to save the minor league team in Norwich, warning congressional action might be taken. In a letter sent Friday to Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr., the Democratic...

apnews.com

 

[CTBballfan243]

Whenever there is story where Blumenthal has a chance to get his name in the paper or his face on TV he’s all in. He loves to Grandstand.

 

[storrsroars]

Billionaire MLB owners aren't happy with the ridiculous profits they're already making.

What they say: "Let the kids play." What they're doing: taking away the kids' jobs.

Although I do agree with the Blumenthal grandstanding comment.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

BloomingIdiot is trying to grandstand - and ruin sports in CT...he ruined UConn when he sued the ACC. Hey, Moron, why not help the American citizens by doing something like lowering drug prices, lowering taxes, or the best thing you can do resign!

 

[dbmill]

I will say right up front that my wife and I have season tickets to the Norwich team. Hartford Courant is pretty late to the game for this story, as this story has been reported by the national media and the New London Day for a couple of months now. The real story to me is that that businessmen bought these 40+ franchises across the country in good faith thinking these franchises had value to them. All of a sudden the MLB owners make these investment valueless even though the local owners spent millions of dollars just to acquire the franchises. MLB is trying to force this down the throats of minor league baseball. Will MLB compensate these ownerships for destroying their investments? Not only that, but local communities have been investing in their local ballparks thinking they had a team to support. If MLB acts unilaterally on this, I expect the whole plan to get tied up in a massive nationwide lawsuit.

 

[Adios]

Going to need a Sea Unicorns jersey!

 

[Chin Diesel]

Seems odd to assume MLB can't contract if they want to do so. There are plenty of minor league opportunities for players. This isn't any sort of constraint on employment.
I've heard from many scouts and people who have played minor league ball that most players are just fillers on the team so the 2-3 real prospects can be evaluated in a real game. Minor leaguers are paid just enough to keep them playing ball during the summer and put off getting a real job as long as possible.

 

[storrsroars]

Seems odd to assume MLB can't contract if they want to do so. There are plenty of minor league opportunities for players. This isn't any sort of constraint on employment.
I've heard from many scouts and people who have played minor league ball that most players are just fillers on the team so the 2-3 real prospects can be evaluated in a real game. Minor leaguers are paid just enough to keep them playing ball during the summer and put off getting a real job as long as possible.

You need "filler" for pitching staffs and positions where you're not playing actual prospects. I don't know how this affects big market teams like the Yankees or BoSox, but it's not good news for the Pirates or any team that can't blow wads on FAs and has to rely on drafting & development. Thankfully the DR leagues aren't included, yet.

I just don't understand the reasoning for this kind of money grab when there are record profits.

 

[Chin Diesel]

You need "filler" for pitching staffs and positions where you're not playing actual prospects. I don't know how this affects big market teams like the Yankees or BoSox, but it's not good news for the Pirates or any team that can't blow wads on FAs and has to rely on drafting & development. Thankfully the DR leagues aren't included, yet.

I just don't understand the reasoning for this kind of money grab when there are record profits.

I get the point of the fillers. MLB still has rookie leagues, high and low A, AA and AAA. There's plenty of opportunity for players and fans. Norwich fans can easily to go Hartford for baseball.
Does it suck for some of the small franchises? Absolutely. Contraction, by definition, has to affect someone.
But I'm not overly concerned about it.

 

[storrsroars]

I get the point of the fillers. MLB still has rookie leagues, high and low A, AA and AAA. There's plenty of opportunity for players and fans. Norwich fans can easily to go Hartford for baseball.
Does it suck for some of the small franchises? Absolutely. Contraction, by definition, has to affect someone.
But I'm not overly concerned about it.

As I understand it, Advanced Rookie (Appy, Pioneer leagues) will be gone. MLB owns the low rookie leagues (GCL, Arizona). Class A Short Season (NY/Penn, Northwest) will also dissolve. 40 teams in those four leagues. Some AAA will be downgraded to AA or even A, destroying the clubs' valuations. Some of the cities losing a Rookie/Class A may get an A/AA team, leaving some long-time AAA/AA sites with no official affiliations (although MLB proposes a "Dream League" made up of flotsam and jetsom) and thus will watch attendance - and operating capital - plummet. Some of these sites have publicly funded stadiums, so expect a lot of suits if this goes through.

It could simply be a negotiating ploy to sidetrack conversations about MiLB player pay.

 

[Waquoit]

Congress needs to take away baseball's antitrust exemption. It serves no purpose.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Congress needs to take away baseball's antitrust exemption. It serves no purpose.

Either take it away, or regulate MLB like a utility, where any major business decision needs regulator approval.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

BloomingIdiot is trying to grandstand - and ruin sports in CT...he ruined UConn when he sued the ACC. Hey, Moron, why not help the American citizens by doing something like lowering drug prices, lowering taxes, or the best thing you can do resign!

Why do partisan hack Trumpers think it is ok to start name-calling and share their stupid, uneducated opinions about politics every scaleetoing chance they get?

This is a sports board. Talk about sports or shut up.

 

[storrsroars]

Why do partisan hack Trumpers think it is ok to start name-calling and share their stupid, uneducated opinions about politics every scaleetoing chance they get?

This is a sports board. Talk about sports or shut up.

One certainly doesn't need to be a Trumper to notice Blumenthal's repeated and consistent M.O. of getting his face on TV at every opportunity.

I expect this comment to be deleted, along with yours. While I haven't lived in CT in 22 years, I'd like to think y'all can do better that that hack. Must be some other Ds willing to challenge him who are worthy of support.

 

[Waquoit]

One certainly doesn't need to be a Trumper to notice Blumenthal's repeated and consistent M.O. of getting his face on TV at every opportunity.

I know this is the CW about the guy but is it true still? I see many more senators on the air than him, though admittedly I don't watch much political TV anymore.

 

[Ha Who]

I know this is the CW about the guy but is it true still? I see many more senators on the air than him, though admittedly I don't watch much political TV anymore.

Consider the size and influence of the state he represents

 

[nelsonmuntz]

One certainly doesn't need to be a Trumper to notice Blumenthal's repeated and consistent M.O. of getting his face on TV at every opportunity.

I expect this comment to be deleted, along with yours. While I haven't lived in CT in 22 years, I'd like to think y'all can do better that that hack. Must be some other Ds willing to challenge him who are worthy of support.

Are you questioning why Congress may want to take another look at why they give a single cartel a regulatory protection that no other organization in the economy gets?

I want to hear every Congressman's explanation for why they don't do something about the MLB anti-trust exemption. Blumenthal's response should be the norm on this issue, not the exception.

There are posters on this board that would be in favor of closing down UConn if a Democrat said something nice about our university. I just wish those posters could keep their stupidity to themselves.

 

[UConnJim]

People seem to forget that Norwich had a AA team, but they had poor attendance and were losing money and moved to Richmond in 2009. At the time, the team owners and Minor League baseball concluded that Norwich was too small to support a minor league team with a 71 game schedule. That said, the stadium is nice, although they built it in a cornfield and not in downtown Norwich. The stadium probably never should have been built.

Major League Baseball has clearly mishandled the possibility of contraction, but the current structure of minor league baseball makes no sense. And, for all of the minor league teams investing in their teams, there are others that are not.

Let's look at the current teams:

There are 30 Major League teams.

Minor Leagues:
AAA: 30 teams
AA: 30 teams
Advanced A: 30 teams
A: 30 teams

The above structure makes sense as each MLB team has an A, Advanced A, AA, and AAA team.

Then, you have A Short Season teams, which number 22. 8 Teams have decided that they don't need or want a Class A Short season team. The Norwich Spinners play in this class.

Next comes the Rookie Advanced League which has 18 teams. Thus, 12 MLB teams have decided that they don't need or want a Rookie Advanced League team.

Now, comes the rest of the Minor Leagues, which consists of the Rookie Leagues. MLB teams have 2 to 5 Rookie League teams with most teams having 3 or 4. Most Rookie League teams are owned by MLB, although the advanced Rookie League teams are not.

Unfortunately for Norwich, they have proven they can't support a AA team and Short Season A teams may not be around in the future.

 

[Adios]

Southeastern CT is socially depressed at this point. After the 2020 election, I think the shore between NY and Boston will grow.

 

[businesslawyer]

There are posters on this board that would be in favor of closing down UConn if a Democrat said something nice about our university. I just wish those posters could keep their stupidity to themselves.

This. If Obama had said "I hope UConn wins four more times in the next 20 years," we have a group of posters who would support Trump taking executive action to stop UConn from winning.

 

[billybud]

Sears and TGIF Fridays can shut down locations for business reasons...

If you invested in Kenney Roger's Roasters...you were thrown on the street when they closed all US locations.

Why should MLB be forced to keep minor league connections that they deem not to support their business plan ?

 

[WestHartHusk]

Sears and TGIF Fridays can shut down locations for business reasons...

If you invested in Kenney Roger's Roasters...you were thrown on the street when they closed all US locations.

Why should MLB be forced to keep minor league connections that they deem not to support their business plan ?

There is a small difference between MLB and Kenney Rogers. Scroll through this thread and see if you can figure it out.

 

[billybud]

Only difference is type of business.....entertainment.

Baseball is a business....why should a business be forced by government to keep locations open?

You know, here where I am, the hospital recently closed up their OB/GYN and all babies born to parents in my county, are now born out of state. The nearest hospital offering OB/GYN services is some miles away across the state line.

The sad part is the loss of prenatal services...poor families aren't travelling to receive them.

Government forcing the hospital to keep open an unprofitable service? Nope...But maybe they should.

I had been a fan of minor league teams dating back to the days (1950's) when I sold cokes in the stands of the Pensacola Dons (Baltimore Orioles affiliate and defunct for 50 years). The Alabama-Florida League had teams in places like Troy, Dothan, Montgomery, Panama City...maybe 20 towns.

Baseball, after WWII, expanded to a vast farm system ....but has been contracting since the early 60's.

In today's baseball economics, each MLB team really only has one minor league club at each level. Now, every time a player changes teams in the farm system they are being promoted or demoted. I remember when that wasn't so.

My opinion, which I admit isn't everybody's, is that government should tread softly...Others may see a need for government to break up Apple, Amazon, etc.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Only difference is type of business.....entertainment.

Baseball is a business....why should a business be forced by government to keep locations open?

You know, here where I am, the hospital recently closed up their OB/GYN and all babies born to parents in my county, are now born out of state. The nearest hospital offering OB/GYN services is some miles away across the state line.

The sad part is the loss of prenatal services...poor families aren't travelling to receive them.

Government forcing the hospital to keep open an unprofitable service? Nope...But maybe they should.

I had been a fan of minor league teams dating back to the days (1950's) when I sold cokes in the stands of the Pensacola Dons (Baltimore Orioles affiliate and defunct for 50 years). The Alabama-Florida League had teams in places like Troy, Dothan, Montgomery, Panama City...maybe 20 towns.

Baseball, after WWII, expanded to a vast farm system ....but has been contracting since the early 60's.

In today's baseball economics, each MLB team really only has one minor league club at each level. Now, every time a player changes teams in the farm system they are being promoted or demoted. I remember when that wasn't so.

My opinion, which I admit isn't everybody's, is that government should tread softly...Others may see a need for government to break up Apple, Amazon, etc.

I can see your point.

That said, these leagues and owners often come to public officials and beg (or demand if they already have a team and are using another city as leverage to get more money) in the form of tax incentives, municipal debt offerings, and outright cash payments to establish these teams. Then, cities will often use a new stadium to spur additional development (and jobs) around the stadium. After directly and/or indirectly investing millions on these minor league franchises, it's a tough pill to swallow to have the league and it's very rich owners suddenly pull the plug because they aren't making enough money.

It's also risky for MLB because many, many baseball fans don't have the money and/or live too far away to regularly attend MLB games; but, do attend minor league games (I go to maybe 1 or 2 Yankee games per year and 4 or 5 minor league games a year [Rockland Boulders] and I am fortunate enough to have the money to go and live just 30 or so miles from the Bronx). Those fans are bringing kids who are going to be the next generation of MLB players, or not.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I can see your point.

That said, these leagues and owners often come to public officials and beg (or demand if they already have a team and are using another city as leverage to get more money) in the form of tax incentives, municipal debt offerings, and outright cash payments to establish these teams. Then, cities will often use a new stadium to spur additional development (and jobs) around the stadium. After directly and/or indirectly investing millions on these minor league franchises, it's a tough pill to swallow to have the league and it's very rich owners suddenly pull the plug because they aren't making enough money.

It's also risky for MLB because many, many baseball fans don't have the money and/or live too far away to regularly attend MLB games; but, do attend minor league games (I go to maybe 1 or 2 Yankee games per year and 4 or 5 minor league games a year [Rockland Boulders] and I am fortunate enough to have the money to go and live just 30 or so miles from the Bronx). Those fans are bringing kids who are going to be the next generation of MLB players, or not.

The economic multiplier is risky; it may work for professional teams but I don't see a single A team in Norwich revitalizes a core business area.
Also, there needs to be caution from the municipalities throwing economic development money or tax incentives to these teams just like they need to be cautious for other business ventures. Not every town/city throws money at phone call centers- and there're good reasons why they don't. I don't buy the argument that minor league teams can't be folded because they received some level of public funding or support.