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By Jim Krug
For the Mirror
Editor's note: Jim Krug has followed the ups and downs of the Pittsburgh Pirates since the late 1980s. He wrote over 150 articles about the Pirates from 2010-16 for online sports site isportsweb.com. This is the third in a three-part series examining the challenges of Major League Baseball.
A tenuous but vital tenant-landlord relationship exists between MLB clubs and their independently-owned minor league affiliates entrusted with the stewardship of their valuable prospects.
Unspoken resentment on the part of Major League teams seeking to dictate this relationship boiled over in 2020, as MLB hijacked control of the minor leagues, cleaving 60 teams from smaller cities and towns that may never host professional baseball again.
Many more cuts are on the way if minor league players successfully unionize in pursuit of living wages, vital for the large percentage of players who never achieve their dream of the Major Leagues, and have to support young families on paltry salaries ranging from $4,800 to $14,700.
Teams lucky enough to survive this gauntlet are still controlled in ways minor league franchises should have discretion.
MLB sets all minor league schedules, which was particularly detrimental to the Curve this year, as they hosted only one full homestand during the most profitable month of July.
My few contacts in the minors believe the ultimate end goal is MLB parent clubs hosting minor league teams year-round only in Florida and Arizona to minimize costs and maximize playing time for prospects, and eliminating all remaining franchises.
This will be a disaster to the industries of over 150 large towns and cities across the country.
They will lose thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of income, hundreds of prospects annually will never be drafted into much smaller systems, and the overall fan interest in the game will be irrevocably damaged.
Major League Baseball could spark an exodus of fans not seen since the 1994 strike year, and many will never regain their faith in a sport they've followed since childhood.
There is still time for hope, but MLB must shift their strategy away from their pursuit of short-term gains towards that of long-term success, while honoring the history of the game, and the tiny towns and cities across the country that helped make it.
Krug, 42, is the director of the Neil Armstrong Planetarium at Altoona Area High School.