This is not good news for baseball... not good at all. With the sport essentially dying, you'd have to think Major League Baseball would do something to help its minor league affiliates, right? Think again.
MLB plans to cut 40 minor league team affiliates in 2021, according to a report from the Associated Press. This plan will cut player development expenses and impact hundreds of players across the minor league system.
Last year, MLB discussed the option of cutting 42 minor league organizations, including Double-A affiliates in Binghamton, New York, Pennslyvannia and Tennessee.
With this new proposal, it's unclear which teams will see their affiliates cut, but each franchise would have four full-season affiliates and prospects in the Dominican Summer League, according to the report.
Unfortunately, ticket sales in both major and minor league baseball have declined over the years, and television ratings aren't doing so hot, according to the New York Times.
The cutting of minor league affiliates has been a long time coming, and the coronavirus pandemic has only seemed to speed up those discussions.
While this isn't a good thing for baseball, it sounds like they're looking at ways to compensate players and teams.
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