Breaking down the minor leagues
New rules, new venues and where to see a game within a 5-hour drive
A new brand of Minor League Baseball opens today around the country, one that will look different both on the field and on the map.
Major League Baseball reorganized its organizations over the past year, removing some established markets and bringing in others from independent ball. Each big-league team now has five affiliates, including one rookie-ball team, two Class A teams, and one apiece in AA and AAA. Some, as always, moved around, including the top affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, which moved from Rhode Island to a new ballpark in Worcester, Mass.
And ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers has a rundown on how each of those teams will be testing some variety of rules change, either in hopes of speeding up the game or adding action to a sport in which, at the bigleague level, offense and action are at or near historic lows.
In Class AA, which includes the Hartford Yard Goats, for example, the changes — with input from Theo Epstein, the Yale graduate who as an executive helped end the long World Series droughts for both the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs — will include regulating where the four infielders may position themselves, limiting the shifts that have cut down on ground-ball base hits. Others include
“Robot Umps” (using technology to call balls and strikes), larger bases and moving back the pitching rubber.
Some of these rules were tested in 2019 in the Atlantic League, the independent league that used to feature the Bridgeport Bluefish (whose stadium is now almost an amphitheater) and the New Britain Bees (who now play in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League). One of those took hold in the Majors last season, a rule that forces a relief pitcher to face three batters or complete an inning.
This year, the Atlantic League will test the “double hook” designated hitter rule: Once a team’s starting pitcher leaves the game, it loses the DH for the rest of the game.
If you want to get out (within a five-hour drive or so) and see some organized minor-league ball, or to get a look at the prospects for the local Major League clubs, here’s a quick guide to the locals:
CLASS AAA
Mets: Syracuse (N.Y.) Mets
Yankees: Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) RailRiders
Red Sox: Worcester (Mass.) Red Sox
Others: Lehigh Valley (Allentown, Pa.) IronPigs (Phillies)
CLASS AA
Mets: Binghamton (N.Y.) Rumble Ponies
Yankees: Somerset (N.J.) Patriots
Red Sox: Portland (Maine) Sea Dogs
Others: Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies), New Hampshire (Manchester, N.H.) Fisher Cats (Blue Jays), Reading (Pa.) Fightin Phils (Phillies), Harrisburg (Pa.) Senators (Nationals), Bowie (Md.) Baysox (Orioles)
HIGH CLASS A
Mets: Brooklyn (N.Y.) Cyclones
Yankees: Hudson Valley (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) Renegades
Red Sox: Greenville (S.C.) Drive
Others: Aberdeen (Md.) IronBirds (Orioles), Jersey Shore (Lakewood, N.J.) BlueClaws (Phillies), Wilmington (Del.) Blue Rocks (Nationals)
LOW CLASS A
Mets: St. Lucie (Fla.) Mets
Yankees: Tampa (Fla.) Tarpons
Red Sox: Salem (Va.) Red Sox