A World Without Major League Baseball

It seems as though a true return to normalcy is an ongoing struggle.

The 2020 season was completely bizarre with a delayed start and eventually only 60 games. The 2021 season much more closely resembled normal, but still came with a lot of COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines. Just when we thought things were heading in the right direction, the baseball world was thrown a curveball with the MLB lockout being sprung upon it.

Now, nothing is certain.

Except one thing — Minor League Baseball. Regardless of what the lockout situation is come time for the season, there’s nothing to indicate that MiLB teams won’t be able to play. So what might a potential season look like where minor league teams are playing, but their major league affiliates aren’t?

The only dilemma or conflict of interest is if a player is on the 40-man roster. This would mean a Triple-A team might be without a few of its better players, Quadruple-A guys who are on the cusp of cracking the 26-man squad. Aside from that, there’s nothing stopping MiLB teams from going forth with their full rosters.

It would be an unfortunate twist for Triple-A to suddenly be the highest level of baseball in the United States. Obviously, no one wants that. Everyone wants MLB. But on the positive side, it could potentially generate exposure to often-overlooked talent and teams.

It would start with spring training. Players gather at their facilities like normal, except it’s just the minor leaguers. Effectively, the Triple-A players would be replacing the major leaguers — in the short term, they would be the major leaguers.

They play scrimmages and a full spring training schedule just like the major leaguers usually do. Normally, spring training is filled with prospects and other players essentially trying out for a spot on the team. This would be no different, but instead of Triple-A players fighting for MLB spots, it would be Double-A players fighting for Triple-A spots. It would give chances to those who wouldn’t otherwise have them.

Right off the bat, Triple-A would gain a bigger and better market. I don’t claim to know the logistics of how that would work in terms of financial capabilities, but I do know that people would be starving for professional baseball in this hypothetical scenario. It would be a golden opportunity for Triple-A teams to gain more exposure. Remember when baseball in the US was cancelled at the beginning of the pandemic, and everyone suddenly became a KBO fan? Think of something along those lines.

Surely, attendance would rise drastically at Triple-A games. Most minor league parks aren’t designed to hold MLB capacity levels, and I wouldn’t expect attendance numbers to get anywhere near the mark of an average MLB game. But I still think there would be a significant increase.

Residents of Triple-A towns would likely be thrilled to say their local team is in the top baseball league in the country, rather than just a farm team for the big club. Meanwhile, fans of the “big club” would have no choice but to pay more attention to their Triple-A affiliates. This would be a dream come true for Triple-A marketing teams.

It was recently announced that the Triple-A season will be 150 games this year. That’s nearly the full 162. If there was no MLB, it would be hard to imagine that baseball fans would just completely ignore a 150-game season of professional baseball played one level below the majors. There’s no way. As we saw with the brief but fierce KBO fascination, people need their baseball. It’s like food in the belly or gas in the tank.

One luxury Triple-A teams would have is they wouldn’t have to worry about players being promoted to the majors. That’s one downside of the minor leagues in general; a player has a great month or two, the fans grow to love him, then he’s promoted and they never see him again. A full Triple-A season with no interference would allow fans to really get to know and love their players.

The eventual playoffs would hold much stronger implications. Usually, most casual baseball fans are too distracted by the MLB stretch run and postseason to care about the minor league playoffs. But by the time playoffs roll around, people would be invested in Triple-A whether they like it or not, and they would be dissatisfied without declaring a winner. Again, another huge marketing win for Triple-A.

Now, there’s certainly a scenario where the MLB season is delayed, but starts back up again, say one month into what would normally be the regular season. In this case, things would be even more similar to the brief KBO craze. Everyone would be invested in Triple-A for a month, then go back to their normal lives once MLB returns.

Of course, nobody  wants to see the MLB season delayed or cancelled. By no means am I trying to advocate for that or claim that the alternative is actually better. If all of this sounds depressing, that’s because it absolutely is.

I assume major league players would be absolutely restless watching all the minor leaguers play without them. It’s hard to imagine them putting up with that for an entire six months. Several players, including Max Scherzer, have been vocal on Twitter in recent days about the needs they want met; it’s obvious that no one wants a normal MLB season more than they do.

A world without Major League Baseball would be a sad one. The system was created to support it, not to function without it. Thinking about a lack of MLB in the long term is the stuff nightmares are made of.

In the short term, though, it would be an interesting twist. Not ideal in the slightest, but it would bring extra exposure to those who wouldn’t otherwise have it.

Ultimately, we just have to hope things get settled soon.

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