How The Season Postponement Affects the Minor Leagues

The most apparent impact from lost games will be the missing time for prospects to develop. They simply won’t be able to play the games needed to establish themselves at whatever level they are at or improve. The good news is that the advancements in technology for player development will lessen the blow somewhat as players can still train in the ways the team wants. But, technology can only take a player so far. The in-game experience of performing under pressure is a crucial component that will be missed.

This will also likely change the timeline for prospects such as Alex Kirilloff and Royce Lewis who were probably set to debut in September. Now, depending on how many games they can actually fit in, the most likely outcome is that they’ll make their first major league appearance in 2021. A player like Jhoan Duran who is on the 40-man roster may find himself in a situation where his timeline isn’t altered as the team might need to call upon him for help down the stretch. If games are expedited, then the merry-go-round of arms on the 40-man roster will only move faster.

In fact, the team most affected by this will probably be the AAA Rochester Red Wings. MLB rosters will be expanded and these extra spots will go to pitchers like Lewis Thorpe and Randy Dobnak who were tweeners to make the MLB roster. That leaves the Red Wings in a position where they’ll need arms either from Pensacola or in the form of minor league free agent deals. If they do decide to pluck from a team under them then it will be a cascading effect of teams needing pitchers from the level beneath them. Maybe instead there will be a run on veteran minor leaguers such as Jhoulys Chacín who will provide crucial depth to uncertain teams.

Of course, the most extreme option of cancelling the minor league system renders most everything void. This may be a reality as any plan to jumpstart the major league season will prove to be even more difficult to implement in the minors, and the scenarios crawling out regarding the major league season are already flimsy. Beyond the financial loss felt by already struggling minor league teams, the players would bear an even more brutal reality. The best case for some (if they are a well-regarded) prospect will be that they lost a season of development. The less well-off players may have to quit the game altogether as the loss of an already insubstantial paycheck could prove to be too strong of a burden.

No matter what happens, the infrastructure of the minor leagues will be tested in 2020. The battle between the minors and sustainability has already been rough as 40 teams will soon face the chopping block. The surviving teams will now have to endure an even more aggressive shuffling of players, lost development time for players, and the potential loss of talent all across the minor league system. It’s a tough reality for an association already in dire straits and this impact will undoubtedly be felt in the major league seasons in 2020 and beyond.

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