Jumbo Shrimp to AAA?

[Steve]

For those who don't follow this much, there is a lot of reorg talk going on with Minor League Baseball. Here's an interesting rumor that seems to have (some) legs:

There should be less change on the Triple-A and Double-A fronts. Three Triple-A teams—San Antonio, Fresno and Wichita—have been designated to move from Triple-A to Double-A’s Texas League or (in the case of Fresno) to what will be the Low-A Cal League. Taking their place: St. Paul, where the Minnesota Twins could affiliate with the St. Paul Saints; Sugar Land and Jacksonville, which will become the Miami Marlins’ top affiliate. Miami is one of the winners in the realignment, with a Triple-A affiliate just up the coast and the addition of Pensacola as a Double-A affiliate. Texas and Houston are also winners, with league alignments designed to protect their investments in High-A and Low-A markets.

https://ballparkdigest.com/2020/11/02/details-of-mlb-takeover-of-milb-emerge/

[Charles Hunter]

Cool!

[BridgeTroll]

Great news!!  Now we just need a season...

[minder]

Interesting.

Got to be a slap in the face for Wichita who just invested in a new ballpark and moved New Orleans triple A team out there. I think San Antonio were trying to get a new ballpark as well.

I'd miss the Southern League in some ways because its a bunch of other teams in the region but I feel our peers are much more Memphis, Indy, Columbus etc than Biloxi or Chattanooga.

[Charles Hunter]

Assuming the 2021 International League keeps the same teams, just adding Jacksonville (the 3 teams mentioned are in the Pacific Coast League), we would be in a division with Charlotte, NC; Durham, NC; Gwinnett (Lawrenceville), GA; and Norfolk, VA.  Gwinnet would be our closest neighbor and Norfolk the most distant.

We would get to play Max Klinger's favorite team a few times a year - the Toledo Mud Hens!

[Steve]

There is a financial aspect to this. Tickets WILL go up. AAA teams travel by plane, not bus.

[Charles Hunter]

There is a financial aspect to this. Tickets WILL go up. AAA teams travel by plane, not bus.

For the whole International* League the distances are much greater than within the Southern League. However, for the Southern Division, where we would (presumably) play most of our games, the distances are comparable, averaging about 400 straight-line miles.

The teams do not have ticket information posted on their websites, so comparing prices isn't possible right now.

* the International League, by the way, is not international, all US teams.

[JaxJersey-licious]

This realignment of the Minor Leagues had to happen but it sucks that they are following the model of Football and Basketball for hiring unpaid labor to staff more of its bottom-rung affiliates. I know players especially from foreign countries were incredibly underpaid but at least it was something. Now there will be far less options for opportunities for players not on a scholarship or not needing compensation to prove themselves but this will inevitably lead to levels of corruption and deception currently unseen in "amateur" sports.

[Steve]

There is a financial aspect to this. Tickets WILL go up. AAA teams travel by plane, not bus.

For the whole International* League the distances are much greater than within the Southern League. However, for the Southern Division, where we would (presumably) play most of our games, the distances are comparable, averaging about 400 straight-line miles.

The teams do not have ticket information posted on their websites, so comparing prices isn't possible right now.

* the International League, by the way, is not international, all US teams.

If they can stay under 500 miles then they're good. Anything over 500 must be traveled by plane. If they do move to the Southern Division, then their Division opponents would be Charlotte, Durham, Gwinnett (Atlanta), and Norfolk. Norfolk would be a plane, and Durham would likely come down to where the stadium was (downtown to downtown is 478 miles). Charlotte and Gwinnett would be fine by bus.

In looking at the Norfolk Tides schedule, they look to play their division opponents 16-20 times, while their out of division teams they play 6-10 times. Now assuming half were home, that's still a fair amount of games far enough that they'll need to fly.

Now, it's the minors - things aren't perfectly balanced like MLB or the NFL. In the IL the North, South, and West divisions have 6, 4, and 4 teams respectively. The International League is an eastern US league - their "West" division is Columbus, Indy, Toledo, and Louisville. They do TRY to help out the teams a bit so travel isn't a giant expense.  At the same time, some amount of air travel is probably desired for development, considering that AAA is the last stop before MLB and almost all travel in MLB is by Plane.

Players are paid more, but thankfully that's a issue for the parent club (coaches as well) that Miami has anyway.

Additionally, I'd like to compare the stadiums when I have some time - 121 Financial is nice for an AA team, but there may be some stadium work if this does come to fruition.

[fieldafm]

Players are paid more, but thankfully that's a issue for the parent club (coaches as well) that Miami has anyway.

Additionally, I'd like to compare the stadiums when I have some time - 121 Financial is nice for an AA team, but there may be some stadium work if this does come to fruition.

I've read that MLB is trying to force more of the player costs onto the minor league teams.  Of course, you read a lot of things about this realignment.

I've been to Louisville, Norfolk and Indy's stadiums and don't feel a discernable level of difference to the baseball grounds here. Norfolk had a nice club area attached to the skyboxes, but didn't notice any real difference between the Indy club level and the skybox area at the Baseball Grounds.

Louisville has a brewery (Against the Grain.. which is fantastic) built within the stadium, whereas here we have to walk a whole block to get to Intuition Ale Works (which is also fantastic). 

The biggest difference between Louisville/Indy and Jax, was not so much the stadium, but what was within easy walking distance (hotels, bars, restaurants, etc) from the stadium.  Here you have to walk past about 3/4 to 1 mile of dead space.

[Steve]

The biggest difference between Louisville/Indy and Jax, was not so much the stadium, but what was within easy walking distance (hotels, bars, restaurants, etc) from the stadium.  Here you have to walk past about 3/4 to 1 mile of dead space.

Amen. Columbus is an amazing example of this as well.

[JBTripper]

There is a financial aspect to this. Tickets WILL go up. AAA teams travel by plane, not bus.

For the whole International* League the distances are much greater than within the Southern League. However, for the Southern Division, where we would (presumably) play most of our games, the distances are comparable, averaging about 400 straight-line miles.

The teams do not have ticket information posted on their websites, so comparing prices isn't possible right now.

* the International League, by the way, is not international, all US teams.

If they can stay under 500 miles then they're good. Anything over 500 must be traveled by plane. If they do move to the Southern Division, then their Division opponents would be Charlotte, Durham, Gwinnett (Atlanta), and Norfolk. Norfolk would be a plane, and Durham would likely come down to where the stadium was (downtown to downtown is 478 miles). Charlotte and Gwinnett would be fine by bus.

In looking at the Norfolk Tides schedule, they look to play their division opponents 16-20 times, while their out of division teams they play 6-10 times. Now assuming half were home, that's still a fair amount of games far enough that they'll need to fly.

Now, it's the minors - things aren't perfectly balanced like MLB or the NFL. In the IL the North, South, and West divisions have 6, 4, and 4 teams respectively. The International League is an eastern US league - their "West" division is Columbus, Indy, Toledo, and Louisville. They do TRY to help out the teams a bit so travel isn't a giant expense.  At the same time, some amount of air travel is probably desired for development, considering that AAA is the last stop before MLB and almost all travel in MLB is by Plane.

Players are paid more, but thankfully that's a issue for the parent club (coaches as well) that Miami has anyway.

Additionally, I'd like to compare the stadiums when I have some time - 121 Financial is nice for an AA team, but there may be some stadium work if this does come to fruition.

Schedules typically send southern division teams on longer roadies to the northern division, so Gwinnett would fly to Rochester and bus around to Buffalo and Syracuse.

[jsjax37]

Why hasn't anyone from the local sports media picked up on this story?  It seems that it would be kind of a big deal if it comes to fruition.

[Snaketoz]

Why hasn't anyone from the local sports media picked up on this story?  It seems that it would be kind of a big deal if it comes to fruition.

I've been wondering too.

[Ken_FSU]

^Similiar note on "sports" and media coverage.

AEW has got to be one of the most underreported local stories of the last year and a half.

We've got a hugely successful live television program eminating weekly in primetime from Daily's Place (with socially distanced crowds of up to 1,000 for big events) and I don't know if anyone in the local media even realizes it.

It's one of the highest rated shows in the key demos out there, even beating the NBA playoffs some nights, and TNT just gave them a nearly $200 million extension of their television deal.

You watch the show, and they namedrop Jacksonville about a hundred times every episode. Daily's hit the jackpot with the naming rights deal, as Daily's Place legitimately has gained national recognition because of the AEW program with the 18-44 crowd.

I think the most interesting part of the story is actually Tony Khan, and comparing his handling of AEW to Shad Khan's handling of the Jags. Guy is clearly very passionate and hands on with the product. He's out doing the media rounds. He's making himself available. And he's talking about how he literally loses sleep and makes major changes if AEW loses a night on cable to the competition. And, unlike his Dad at times, I've never once heard Tony talk about Jacksonville through a pinched nose. Every show opens with "Welcome to Jacksonville, home of the Jags." He talks really positively in the media about Jacksonville as AEW's homebase. His company is constantly doing fundraisers for local gun violence, women's shelters, etc.

Just seems like a good dude. If the Jags end up in Tony's hands one day, I think people would really like him (assuming we turn things around on the field, obviously).