Minor League Baseball’s shifting landscape
The Sun rises in Hartford. Dodgers continue to game the system
Good morning, all! It’s hump day!
Last week I wrote about a new entity, entering the minor league baseball franchise business. Look out Diamond Baseball Holdings. You now have company.
It turns out the investment firm purchasing the Akron RubberDucks and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp has the backing of Arctos, according to the website Sportico. Arctos is an investment firm that has minority stakes in among other franchises, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Golden State Warriors and the Buffalo Bills. That’s a pretty good trio if you ask me.
The newly created Prospector Baseball Group is the front entity buying the Ducks and Shrimp but Arctos is putting up a lot of money. And apparently the group is not satisfied with stopping at just these two teams.
If you have been paying attention, you know Diamond Baseball Holdings has been buying up franchises left and right. They currently own more than 40 teams. It now appears PBG sees the value of owning minor league baseball teams and that Akron and Jacksonville just might be the first step.
We could reach the point where a few investment groups own all the minor league baseball franchises. How that impacts the overall professional baseball experience remains to be seen.
When I started broadcasting professional baseball in 1983 for the Kinston, NC Blue Jays, the franchise was owned by a World War II veteran and retired Eastern Airlines pilot Ray Kuhlman. He and his wife ran the franchise with the help of me and another person. That was it. I drove the team bus, broadcast the games, went up on the grandstand roof and collected baseballs hit there during games to be used for batting practice the next day, shuttled players to and from the airport, spoke at gatherings to promote the franchise, wrote the program inserts, mimeographed the statistics. You name it, all four of us did it. There were no interns. We worked from practically sun up to after sun down most days.
Like everything else, minor league baseball continues to change. In recent years those changes have led to a great fan experience. Here is hoping the shifting landscape enhances that experience even more.
Here are some other thoughts, as we approach eight days until Christmas:
As long as we are talking franchises, legendary football coach Nick Saban - now retired - has purchased a minority stake in the NHL’s Nashville Predators. Saban says his passion for sports and his “competitive nature” are among the reasons for his investment.
The New York Giants have waived placekicker Younghoe Koo. This is how pathetic this once signature franchise has become. The issue of finding a decent placekicker has gone on for years. We’re not taking a QB, a running back or a high profile defender here. We are talking placekicker. And the Giants cannot even fulfill that need.
With the future of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun in the Nutmeg State in doubt, word is the Sun, who play in the 9-thousand seat Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, will play two home games in Hartford at the 16-thousand seat PeoplesBank Arena. WNBA activity has practically ground to a halt, while owners and the players association hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.
So Ha-Seong Kim has returned to the Atlanta Braves. Very quietly the Braves have had an active off season and could be a force to be reckoned with next season.
Turns out Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes not only had a torn ACL but a torn LCL too. Mahomes had surgery on Monday, and although many say he will not return until midseason next year, word in KC is Mahomes is determined to be ready for the start of the season.
The two-time defending LA Dodgers continue to circumvent MLB’s luxury tax by signing players to deferred contracts. Shohei Ohtani, of course, is exhibit A, as $680M of his $700M contract is deferred between 2034 and 2043. Now comes word reliever Edwin Diaz is the latest to get a portion of his contract deferred. Diaz reportedly has $4.06M of his contract deferred but overall, the Dodgers owe $1.06B in deferrals to nine players. You can talk about big market teams vs. small market teams but MLB needs to address this issue head on. It’s one thing if the Dodgers use their deep pockets to sign players. It’s another thing if they game the system by continuing to take the deferral route. The Dodgers are dodging the luxury tax and MLB needs to put a stop to it now.
Of course, the MLBPA does not care about all the deferred contracts these players are signing, as long as they get the money and there is no salary cap. My hunch is this issue of deferrals will be discussed, during bargaining over the next labor agreement. Remember the current deal between the players and owners expires on Dec. 1, 2026.
On that note, let me defer to the rest of the day. Have a wonderful Wednesday and thank you for being a subscriber.
DAN