Renegades, all of minors won’t play this year
No minor league games this year due to pandemic
There won’t be any Hudson Valley Renegades games this year.
Baseball’s minor leagues canceled their seasons Tuesday after Major League Baseball decided not to provide any players to its affiliated teams amid the coronavirus pandemic.
That means the Renegades, a New York Penn League team whose home field is Dutchess Stadium on Route 9D in Fishkill, won’t be back in action until 2021 at the earliest.
The Renegades are a Class A short-season affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Their season typically runs from mid-June until early September. This would have been the Renegades’ 27th season.
The long-expected announcement of minor league ball being canceled this year was made by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the minors’ governing body. The Professional Baseball Agreement between the major and minor leagues expires after this season, and MLB has proposed reducing the minimum number of affiliates from 160 to 120.
There so far has been no indication that the Renegades are in danger of being eliminated.
For the upcoming abbreviated season, MLB already had told clubs to retain expanded 60-player pools, of which 30 players can be active during the first two weeks of the season starting in late July.
“These are unprecedented times for our country and our organization as this is the first time in our history that we’ve had a summer without minor league baseball played,” said National Association President Pat O’Conner. “While this is a sad day for many, this announcement removes the uncertainty surrounding the 2020 season and allows our teams to begin planning for an exciting 2021 season of affordable family entertainment.”
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