The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Braves among teams to thin their minor league system
The Braves are among the teams releasing minor leaguers in the past week.
With the minor-league season to be canceled (not official, but an inevitability), and many players not released at the end of March because of the coronavirus halting baseball operations, this week has featured a mass exodus of minorleague talent from almost every organization.
The Braves, who didn’t release any players before the pandemic, have cut two dozen players from their lower levels. The team will pay its remaining minor leaguers through June. Thus far, every reported team will do so except the A’s, who elected to stop paying minor leaguers their $400-perweek allowance at May’s end.
The Braves are still “working through (their) options” beyond next month, according to a person familiar with club decisions.
Among the team’s reported cuts was 2014 compensatory first-round pick Braxton Davidson, who never played above A-ball. The Braves released 24 players in total.
Many of these minor leaguers would have been cut in March, but the pandemic ceased MLB operations. Players are also released around the major league draft, which is approaching June 10 but will only include five rounds instead of the standard 40.
The release numbers have varied. The Mets reportedly trimmed their organization by 39, per Baseball America. The Astros reportedly cut 17. The Cubs reportedly let 28 players go. The Royals and Twins are the only teams reported to have not cut any players as of Friday afternoon.
What’s different about the roster-trimming process this time is the timing — the cuts happening all at once — and the looming uncertainty.
Without a minor league season, and with numerous minor league teams to be eliminated (a pre-pandemic development), many players will no longer have the chance to pursue their baseball aspirations.
While the draft is shortened, players who weren’t selected will be free to sign with any club, which could help replenish lower levels, but for a maximum $20,000 bonus.
That means much of the higher-regarded talent has motivation to opt for school over the minors, though the player would have the advantage of fielding offers and picking his destination — an unprecedented development. Think of undrafted free agents in the NFL, just with an even financial playing field.
But as those new hopes begin, others’ ambitions conclude. Over 1,000 players have been cut this week, according to ESPN. Many of those players have seen their careers end as the opportunities grow slimmer.
“For more than a year, MLB has planned to contract about a quarter of minor-league teams before the 2021 season,” ESPN insider Jeff Passan wrote. “Compounding that with a drastically shortened amateur draft ... and minor-league systems could be as thin as they have been in years.”