Some of you may have noticed that the minor league seasons in A and AA have already ended and that there's only a few games left in AAA. I have two suggestions to improve the minors for next year and I'd like to hear what people think about them.
1. Extend the minor league seasons to either 140 or 145 games.
The A and AA seasons are 120 games long and end about August 10. AAA goes 130 games to about August 20. I think we'd be better off making them 140 or 145 games. That way, the minor league seasons would last through the end of August and up to major league roster expansion. If we did this, everyone's prospects would get more development time, especially more games played on defense which would speed development there.
2. Add championship series to the minor leagues.
I think it would be fun to have one round of playoffs for each minor league, something like a five-game championship series between the division champions.
What do others think? If Zev's on board with these proposals and a majority of owners support them, I think these would be good additions for next season.
I am entirely in favor of this. Anything that adds more development time and bragging rights is all for me.
ReplyDeleteI like both ideas and think we should add both. Of course this means more chances for career ending injuries :)
ReplyDeleteI am in favor of both suggestions...
ReplyDeleteAgreed, but with one tiny, tiny, tiny caveat: I think it would be more fun, if we're going to add a minor league championship series at each level, to extend the minor league season only far enough such that the last game of the minor league championship series occurs on or before August 31 - ie, before roster expansion. Lame as it sounds, if my AAA or AA team made the minor league playoffs, I wouldn't want to have to choose between calling up a guy when the rosters expand or letting him play in the minor league playoffs.
ReplyDeleteSee, I think that having to make that sort of decision would be more fun. Plus, you could still call people up in mid-September, after the playoffs are over.
ReplyDeleteAAA does do that in that players are sometimes called up in the midst of a vicious pennant race and the minor league team gets screwed.
ReplyDeleteI'm in favor of this, too.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like a short- or rookie-league season, if only for the boatload of prospects I picked up in my deadline deals.
OK, that's six if I count right (Mack, Nate, Jeremy, Matt, Frank [his caveat notwithstanding] and Michael). I agree with this too, and so, we'll make it a true majority.
ReplyDeleteI'll implement this for next year.
Zev