Useful Notes / Minor League Baseball

3 Following

Minor League Baseball, also called MiLB or "the farm system", is where most players drafted by Major League Baseball teams play before making it to the major leagues, if they ever make it at all. Teams are affiliated with major league clubs and serve to develop players by having them progress through increasing levels of competition quality and larger markets.

Teams belong to a multi-tiered system of leagues ranging from the Rookie leagues all the way up to Triple-A. Effective with a major reorganization of MiLB that went down in 2021, the complete list, working from the bottom, goes like this, with each MLB team now limited to one affiliate at each level (unless otherwise noted). After the initial realignment, the leagues were named by just their level and a regional identifier; however, the historical league names were reinstated in 2022, although as a result, some league names became Artifact Titles.

Triple-A

The last rung before MLB. In general, the competition here is almost as good (and in some cases better) than what it is in the Big Leagues, and the prospects are often, but not always, the best in a team's system. But even if the Prospects skip Triple-A, the Triple-A team will still generally be the most talented team outside the MLB club itself. This is because sometimes Triple-A will become a "parking lot" for players who are either good enough for the big leagues but are unlucky enough to be trapped on the depth chart behind a established MLB player (for example, Ryan Howard of the Phillies remained in Triple-A longer than he probably should have because the team had Jim Thome, an eventual Hall of Famer, at his position) or players who are just barely not good enough to make it in the Big Leagues, but are certainly better than most of their Triple-A compatriots (these players are sometimes said to be "quadruple-A' quality). Fifteen members of each Triple-A team (usually) are major league ballplayers; they're part of the parent club's extended 40-man roster and eligible to play for their major league club after September 1. However, since 2020, MLB teams can only have 28 players on their September rosters (and in fact must have exactly that number). Before this new limitation took effect, many teams waited until after the minor league postseason to expand their rosters (not necessarily to the full 40) if their farm club was a contender. Because of the fact that Triple-A rosters have less fluidity than those in Double-A or lower, it is not uncommon for fans to become attached to their favorite players and follow their careers once they make it to the majors, even if they aren't playing for one's favorite team. Similarly, some "quad-A" players sometimes become fixtures for years on certain Triple-A teams, and become involved with local charities, hospitals, etc. (although this has become less common in recent years because the cold hard economic realities of the game and the dream of getting to the big leagues will usually lead to a player either being released or signing with another team where he'd have a better shot of making the big leagues). The two leagues at this level are the International League, which have the Eastern and Central Division affiliates, and the Pacific Coast League, which has the Western Division affiliates.

Double-A

Although it is technically the second-highest level of the Minors, some teams will often call up their best prospects straight from here (see below for reasons), although with others it is just simply another step on the road to another level and closer to The Show. The leagues at this level are the Eastern League, Southern League, and Texas League.

High-A

Formerly "Class A-Advanced", this level is when the players really start getting good and the first level where players who have any shot whatsoever of getting promoted to the majors really start to stand out. The leagues at this level are the Midwest League, Northwest League, and South Atlantic League.

Single-A

Known as "Low-A" during the 2021 realignment, Single-A leagues are made up mostly of players who had been in Rookie leagues the season before, with a few standout draftees likely to join in midseason. The leagues at this level are the California League, Carolina League, and Florida State League.

Rookie

At the Rookie level, the players are raw, often straight from whatever college or high school they were playing at before they signed. Rookie Leagues include the Arizona and Florida Complex Leagues^!!!respectively known before 2021 as the Arizona and Gulf Coast Leagues, with teams using the parent MLB club's Spring Training practice facilities and playing an abbreviated 60-game schedule that starts after the high school and college seasons end, so the players have no downtime before starting their pro careers. The Dominican Summer League, an MLB-affiliated league that develops young prospects from Latin America, is also at this level. Each MLB team also fields one or more teams in the Dominican Summer League (currently, slightly less than half of MLB teams field two DSL teams).

Before the 2021 reorg, there were also "Advanced Rookie" and "Short Season A" leagues, the line between which was blurry; two-thirds of major league teams had only one affiliate between the two, treating the two levels as functionally equal. Both featured slightly more polished draftees, usually standout rookies who may have played high-level college ball and were able to jump past the complex leagues, but were still playing college ball a few weeks before the start of the season, so they couldn't join the full season Single A teams. Both levels played 76-game schedules, and players from them usually got promoted to Low-A or even High-A teams in their second year (whereas the complex-league rookies usually go to full-season Low-A at best, with some being held back for "extended spring training" before being put on a short-season affiliate.)

---

Because the players are not well known, Minor League teams are often marketed through use of crazy promotions and give-aways, and a sense of local pride. The manic atmosphere is added to by the frequently-amusing or whimsical names of the teams, like the former Las Vegas 51s (named for Area 51 and with a grey alien mascot; since renamed the Las Vegas Aviators) and Albuquerque Isotopes (which is a Simpsons reference, despite the club's insistence it's just about Albuquerque's links to the Los Alamos National Laboratory) of the PCL, and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and famous Toledo Mud Hens (often mentioned on M*A*S*H as the hometown team of Wholesome Crossdresser Cpl. Klinger) of the International League. Lately, some teams have come around to the realization that in comparison with the bigs, the smaller, more intimate facilities and comfortable vibe and wallet-friendly prices are a powerful draw themselves (think jazz bar versus large arena); and because minor league games are usually not televised they tend to move at a much quicker pace than MLB games,^note Though that gap has closed somewhat with the new rules put in place by MLB in 2023 to help speed up the games which makes them much more kid-friendly. This view is—deliberately—reinforced on the part of teams that are within easy driving distance of the parent MLB club. The Orioles^note Norfolk, VA; Bowie, MD; Frederick, MD & Salisbury, MD, Guardians^note Columbus, Akron & Eastlake, OH, Yankees^note Scranton, PA; Bridgewater, NJ & Wappingers Falls, NY, Marlins^note Jacksonville, Pensacola & Jupiter, FL, Mets^note Syracuse, Binghamton & Brooklyn, NY, and Phillies^note Allentown, PA; Reading, PA & Lakewood, NJ systems are particularly fond of this: they each have their Triple-A, Double-A, and at least one A farm team in fairly close proximity to the parent club.

Players from the majors will occasionally play for minor-league affiliates of their teams while they recover from injuries. The roster rules forbid a major league team from reactivating an injured player within ten days of his last game played if the team calls up a player from the minors to replace him (known as putting him on the "injured list" or "IL"^note before 2017, known as the "disabled list"), but there is no prohibition on that player from playing in the minors during that exclusion period (known as a rehab assignment).

MLB's effective takeover of MiLB is also allowing it to use the minors as a test bed for many experimental rules. In 2021, all levels of the minors above Rookie tested said rules, and some of these were tested in the 2021 Arizona Fall League as well. Some of these changes have been adopted by MLB.

• In all Low-A leagues, pitchers could attempt a pickoff, or step off the rubber, only twice per at-bat. If they do so a third time, and fail to pick off the runner, a balk is called, advancing all runners one base. The AFL also used this rule. MLB adopted a slightly modified version of this rule in 2023.
• Low-A Southeast (now the Carolina League) used an electronic system to call balls and strikes in select games. While the AFL and the independent Atlantic League used such a system in 2019, this one is subtly different. The 2019 system used a 3-D zone that covered home plate; the 2021 system used a 2-D plane in front of home plate. The AFL used this second system in 2021.
• Low-A West (now the California League) adopted a 15-second pitch clock, as did the AFL. MLB would adopt a pitch clock in 2023, with a 15-second clock with the bases empty and 20 seconds with a runner on base. In 2024, both MLB and MiLB shortened the 20-second clock to 18 seconds.
• In all High-A leagues, pitchers were required to step off the rubber before attempting a pickoff (though they weren't subject to the Low-A limits on attempts). This rule had been tested in the Atlantic League in 2019, leading to a dramatic increase in steal attempts and a lesser but still significant increase in success rate. This change especially impacts left-handed pitchers, who face the first-base side of the field and thus don't need to step off the rubber to attempt to pick off a runner on first.^note While right-handers enjoy the same advantage when a runner is on third, pickoff attempts are much less common at third than first.
• In all Double-A leagues, all four infielders were required to have both feet on the infield dirt at the moment the pitcher delivers the ball, eliminating some of the more extreme defensive shifts. MLB further changed the rule at midseason, requiring that two infielders play on each side of second base. The AFL tested the full version of this rule in 2021 (two infielders on each side of second, with both feet on the dirt). MLB also adopted this in 2023.
• In Triple-A, first, second, and third bases were increased in size from 15 inches to 18 inches, giving a tiny advantage to batter-runners and base stealers, and (hopefully) reducing the likelihood of collisions at the bags. The 2021 AFL also used the larger bases. This was another change MLB adopted in 2023.

Affiliated minors should not be confused with independent minor leagues such as the Atlantic League, American Association, Frontier League, and Pioneer League. They don't have a direct affiliation with Major League Baseball clubs, players, who often were drafted into MiLB but later cut, are trying to impress enough to be signed by affiliated minor league teams again. Since 2021, these four leagues have been "official partner leagues" of MLB, giving them a level of recognition in what used to be called "organized baseball". Other independent leagues, such as the Pecos League, are lower-budget affairs for players passed over in the draft to try to get noticed and picked up by higher-tier indy teams and maybe from there to affiliated ball.

• Among these leagues, the Atlantic League is notable for its use by MLB as a test bed for rule changes in very recent years. It used an automated ball-strike system in 2019 and 2021 (with COVID-19 killing the 2020 season), but decided to scrap it after the latter season. Also in 2021, the league implemented the so-called "double-hook" rule—meaning that once a team removes its starting pitcher, it loses the designated hitter for the rest of the game. In the second half of that season, it moved the pitcher's rubber back 1 foot, from the traditional 60.5 feet to 61.5 feet^*measured from the front edge of the rubber to the rear point of home plate, but decided not to continue with it in 2022. It continues to use larger bases (17 inches in its case) and anti-shift rules, both also tested in 2021. Another change tested in 2022 was to extra-innings rules. The first inning after regulation started with runners on first and second, and every inning after that started with the bases loaded. MLB did not adopt this particular rule, but had adopted a slightly different rule during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, starting each extra inning with a runner on second. It kept that rule in place for 2021 and 2022 before making it permanent in 2023.

Also not to be confused with amateur collegiate summer leagues, such as the Cape Cod League, which are amateur leagues consisting of college players playing during their summer break while still maintaining their NCAA eligibility for the following school year. Significantly, all of these leagues use wooden bats—the same types mandated by MLB and MiLB. (College baseball allows metal and composite bats.) Literally dozens of such leagues operate. The 2021 reorg also introduced the Prospect Development Pipeline, an official amateur development pathway co-sponsored by MLB and USA Baseball (the country's official governing body for baseball, though its scope mainly covers national team competition). The Appalachian League, formerly a Rookie-Advanced professional league, is now the official PDP league for rising college freshmen and sophomores. The Cape Cod League now fills this role for rising juniors, which had been its de facto role anyway.^note The "rising junior" part is significant because of MLB's draft rules. All residents of the US, its territories, and Canada are automatically eligible for the draft upon high school graduation. However, once a player enrolls in a four-year college or university, he is not eligible again until completing three years or turning 21, whichever comes first. This means that rising juniors will be eligible after their next college season; the Cape League traditionally draws many top college prospects at that point in time, allowing MLB scouts to see them in action against one another with wooden bats. The final PDP league is the MLB Draft League, which features top draft-eligible prospects of all classes; it launched with six teams, with four having been members of the defunct Short-Season New York–Penn League and one each coming from the High-A Carolina League and the Double-A Eastern League. There are also some independent collegiate summer teams not affiliated with a league, with a prominent one being the Alaska Goldpanners, based in Fairbanks, who play the annual "Midnight Sun Game" on the night of the summer solstice, which starts at 10:00 P.M. local time but is still played entirely under natural light.

An example of MiLB teams in movies is the movie Bull Durham, where the Durham Bulls, Kinston Indians, and other teams were all part of MiLB.^note The Bulls still play as such, however they moved from Single-A to Triple-A when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now just Rays) were established in 1998. The Indians moved to another North Carolina town, Zebulon, after the 2011 season and became the Carolina Mudcats. Kinston eventually got a new minor-league team in 2017 with the Down East Wood Ducks, but they moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina after 2024, becoming the Hub City Spartanburgers.

An example of a collegiate league in movies can be found in Summer Catch, where the featured baseball team belongs to the Cape Cod League.

---