Milwaukee Brewers purchase Carolina Mudcats, possible trend in minors
It seemed to fly under the radar last Tuesday that the Milwaukee Brewers purchased their high-A affiliate, but could it be a major step in a trend?
The Milwaukee Brewers announced on Tuesday, October 3rd that they were purchasing their high-A affiliate, the Carolina Mudcats. This came on the first day of the playoffs, the American League Wild Card game day between the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees, so the coverage wasn’t heavy, but perhaps it should have been.
The Brewers didn’t just buy the Mudcats. They broke into a league that had traditionally not been a big fan of team ownership of affiliates in their league. Sure, Salem had been the Red Sox since 2007, but that was approved for an interesting reason – the Red Sox bought the team knowing they would be operating the team as an affiliate for another team for one season.
Until the Astros and Rangers were allowed to own their expansion rosters last season, no other team had been approved to purchase a franchise in the Carolina League in that time. With the sale of one of the most notable, recognizable logos in all of minor league baseball, a new door has been opened.
Why is this significant?
In March of 2011, the head offices of Minor League Baseball extended their agreement with Major League Baseball through 2020.
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Many casual fans (and even more involved fans) don’t realize that while they are certainly intertwined, Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball are two different entities. Minor League Baseball has been getting plenty of support for its players and communities in baseball media recently, something that will be more costly for major league ball clubs and not something that either the owners nor Major League Baseball Players’ Union want to address in collective bargaining negotiations.
A recognizable franchise like the Mudcats coming under team ownership means that the team would be able to control the day to day operations of the club, controlling the costs and having more direct involvement in how the team is functioning as part of the organization’s investment. When that agreement comes due in 2020, there is a good chance that minor league baseball will have good footing to negotiate on behalf of its privately-held teams in order to secure better benefits for the communities and players involved with those teams.
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Major league teams purchasing their affiliates and controlling the activities of the club, including its interaction with the community, would put the control back into the hands of the team when those negotiations come. Expect that you’ll see a good portion of teams making deals to acquire an affiliate in advance of that 2020 deal expiring in order to have better leverage for the owners when they come to the bargaining table.