Minor League Diary: August 10, 2006

Doing the Affiliate Shuffle

Player development contracts between major-league teams and their minor-league affiliates expire in even-numbered years. Such contracts typically run for either two years or four years. Major-league teams must notify their minor-league partners by September 11 if they wish to continue their affiliation.

This site has the status of player development contracts, and is updated frequently. Looking at the list of PDCs expiring this year, I can’t really see that there will be significant affiliate movement. There have been a number of extensions recently – the Giants in San Jose, the Pirates in Indianapolis, the Marlins with Carolina, the Brewers in Nashville – and most of the teams whose contracts have not yet been extended are likely to stay put (e.g. the Yankees in Columbus, the Mets in Norfolk, the Red Sox in Pawtucket, the White Sox in Charlotte, the Mariners in Tacoma, the Diamondbacks in Tucson, the Orioles in Bowie, Frederick, and Delmarva). But there are a couple of things happening.

Philadelphia, which has been affiliated with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, will be moving that affiliation to Ottawa (currently a Baltimore affiliate) in 2007. The Lynx will be moving into the new ballpark being built in Allentown, PA, in 2008 – it hasn’t been confirmed, and Ottawa’s management keeps denying it, but every source I’ve seen says it’s a done deal. The Orioles will almost certainly pick up the affiliation with the Red Barons.

There could be a move afoot in Richmond. The Braves want a new ballpark to replace the Diamond, which is located in a less-than-desirable section of Richmond and is in poor repair, but the city fathers have been dragging their collective feet, hoping that they can force the Braves out so that they can join up with the Nationals (currently in New Orleans) and leverage the DC market. The catch here is that Atlanta owns the Richmond franchise – the Braves are unique among major league teams in that they own almost all of their minor league affiliates so unless someone else wants to buy Richmond, and buy out one of the other AAA franchises - or unless the Braves can be convinced to dispose of the Richmond franchise and sign a PDC with someone else, which they’ve only done with Myrtle Beach in recent years – the city of Richmond is stuck dealing with the Braves.

There will be a change in Mobile, where both the Padres and BayBear management want out of the relationship. San Diego would like an affiliate in the Texas League, but it will be hard for them to get one. The only openings are in San Antonio (Seattle) and Wichita (Kansas City). The Missions have been with Seattle for six years, and the Wranglers have a 12-year relationship with the Royals – normally when you have long-term relationships with a club, you’re reluctant to change out of them unless the major-league team asks out, and there’s been no indication that either Seattle or KC is seeking a change. The main wild card revolves around the possible move of the Wichita franchise to Springdale, Arkansas, where the voters recently approved a referendum for a new ball park in an effort to lure the Wranglers. But even if that happens, it’s unlikely that the owners will opt for a different relationship. The Padres might have to switch into another Southern League town; Huntsville is a possibility.

Fresno might be looking to switch away from the Giants – the Fresno Bee recently ran a poll of its readers concerning the affiliation, and while a plurality favored the Giants there was a significant amount of support for other NL West teams as well. The Dodgers could also be looking to escape Las Vegas – they’ve had some concerns about the impact of the environment on their pitching prospects.

Another Trading Deadline Has Come and Gone

… and there wasn’t much significant prospect movement. The Mets didn’t trade Lastings Milledge or Mike Pelfrey (not that they could have traded Pelfrey because of the Incaviglia Rule, but that didn’t stop the speculation). The Angels didn’t part with Howie Kendrick or Brandon Wood. The Red Sox hung onto Jon Lester. Phil Hughes and even Eric Duncan are still in line to wear pinstripes some day (although the much-ballyhooed, and overrated, C.J. Henry was deemed expendable by Brian Cashman).

It does seem to me that teams are becoming less willing to give up even a remotely useful prospect – let alone a top prospect – for trading deadline help. Sure, there were some good prospects traded – Joel Guzman, Nelson Cruz, Ryan Shealy, Garrett Mock – but none of those players are likely to turn into a Scott Kazmir or Jason Bay (and I should point out that Kazmir and Bay are exceptions in recent seasons – not the rule). Much has been made of Bill Stoneman’s tendency to hold onto his prospects rather than making deals for them, but Stoneman is not unusual among major league GMs these days.

To the extent that it has become extremely difficult to pry good prospects loose from the current organizations, I think that it makes the typical argument used to defend bad organizations which sign fading veterans (not pointing fingers at anyone, David Littlefield) even less defensible. There may be a thought that “hey, we can flip Burnitz/Casey/Randa for prospects at the deadline”, but recent events have demonstrated that the “thought” is, more likely, a pipe dream. Teams rarely make those types of deals any more.

You Can’t Tell the Players without a Scorecard

From today’s Game Notes for the New Orleans Zephyrs:

The Z’s have made 131 roster moves this season. The Z’s have used 51 different players this season and 22 different Z’s have seen action in the Major Leagues.

That seemed like a lot of moves, so just for the heck of it, I did a random sampling of other teams who post their Game Notes or transaction data on the Internet. Sacramento had 130 roster moves through Sunday (and at least two more since). Indianapolis had 100 through yesterday. Nashville had 71 through Monday. Quad Cities had “just” 57. Norfolk had 122. Columbus (of the Yankee shuttle) had 123. Of course, there are also the Tennessee Smokies, who have just 24 roster moves so far this season – but they are such an obvious exception.

It used to be that teams would keep a group of minor leaguers at a level for at least the first half of the season, and then promote players in a group around midseason. We’re not seeing a lot of that any more, and there are several reasons for that, I think.

It used to be that major league teams would have a “swing man” in the bullpen” who could start when needed. You don’t really see too many “swing men” any more – and one consequence of that is that, when major league teams need someone to make a spot start due to a rainout or something, they are more inclined to reach down into the minors for a pitcher who is “used to being a starter” to come up for a couple of days, rather than starting a reliever. Guys like Kason Gabbard, or Charlie Haeger, or JJ Johnson, or Dustin Moseley or Joe Saunders (although he’s back up now), or Jason Hammel, or Chris Sampson or Matt Albers (and maybe, now, Jason Hirsh) get called up for a start, maybe hang around for a couple or relief appearances, and then get sent right back down to resume their role as a member of the AAA rotation. Occasionally, someone like Saunders or Jamie Shields (and arguably, Jered Weaver) will get called up for a start or two, make a positive impression, and hang around longer. But most of the time, they get recalled with the understanding that it’s just for a single start or two. Those types of moves have ripple effects up and down the minors.

Major league rehab assignments also lead to roster moves. Usually, the major league team will try to put a rehabbing player on a team which can use him to their best advantage. Sometimes, though, that means another player has to ride the bench – on occasion, though, the organization will send that player to another team to get some PT while the major leaguer is rehabbing.

I also think that organization soldiers are *much* more prevalent now than they used to be. Gary Patchett, a Reds’ farmhand who can literally play every position (he’s a passable shortstop, an emergency pitcher, and can catch as well) is a perfect example. Padgett started the season at Chattanooga, and has also spent time at Louisville and Sarasota as well as some time on the DL and inactive lists. He’s accumulated exactly 59 at-bats at the three levels this season. When the Reds need his roster spot for some reason, Patchett goes off the active roster. It seems like every organization has a Patchett at some level (usually more than one).

Whatever the reason, it seems like there’s a nearly constant shuttle of players into and out of a typical minor league city. What amazes me is how often the local fans remember that a guy played for them “x” number of years ago when he happens to come back to town. A couple of years ago, Kevin Polcovich finished out his professional career with the Mudcats. Polcovich hadn’t played for Carolina since 1997, and the team had been through two affliation changes since then – yet a lot of the fans remembered.

Does the constantly changing guard affect the fan support? I haven’t noticed that it does to any great degree. Sure, the fans like to see the future stars play – and stay – and sure, a good percentage of people (especially the kids) come out for reasons other than the baseball game. But for those that are there for the baseball, I think they accept that they’ll see a lot of different faces, appreciate the growing pains, and become especially enamored of the occasional guy (Billy Hall and Rex Rundgren come to mind) who sticks around for a couple of years.