Pace Of Play, Tebow-Mania Will Draw Attention

Spring training is headed for home and the minor league season is here at long last. Prospects are spreading out across the country and readying themselves for the grind of a 140-game season. In minor league front offices, however, the preparation started long ago. Tickets were sold, bobbleheads and specialty jerseys were dreamed up and trends on social media were carefully monitored to ensure their Twitter feed is as up to date as possible.

Last season’s minor league campaign was marked on the field by the ascent of Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi and Minor League Player of the Year Yoan Moncada’s rise from high Class A to the majors. The sport-wide spike in velocity continued as well, with at least 71 minor leaguers touching or surpassing 100 mph with their fastballs. Mariners righthander Thyago Vieira was the velocity king, with a peak of 104 mph during the season. Righthanders Julian Fernandez (Rockies), Michael Kopech (White Sox), Rodolfo Martinez (Giants) and Jorge Guzman (Yankees) all hit 103 mph as well.

Off the field, the biggest story of the season was the realignment of the California and Carolina leagues. After years of rumors, The Cal League’s High Desert and Bakersfield franchises were shut down and replaced across the country in Kinston, N.C., (the Down East Wood Ducks) and Buies Creek, N.C. (for a couple of years before a move to Fayetteville, N.C.). The explosion of rebranding ran a close second as the minors’ biggest story. Five teams got new names—the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (formerly Mets), the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Suns), the New Orleans Baby Cakes (Zephyrs), as well as the aforementioned Wood Ducks and Buies Creek Astros. The Staten Island Yankees attempted to change their names, but local government blanched at the proposed choices and the club scrapped the plan. A couple of other clubs—the Memphis Redbirds, Lynchburg Hillcats and Lowell Spinners—also got new looks while keeping their names.

So what’s on tap for 2017?

Storylines to Watch: On and Off The Field

One-Night Wonders

In both the macro and micro views, the latest craze around the minor leagues involves rebranding. Five teams—Jacksonville, New Orleans, Florida, Binghamton and Kinston (Down East)—changed their identities this offseason (we’re excepting the Buies Creek Astros because they will change again once they move into their permanent home in Fayetteville, N.C., for the 2019 season). Several more, however, are continuing the recent trend of one-night switches. The most notable example of this phenomenon involves the Fresno Grizzlies, who morph on each Tuesday home game into the Fresno Tacos and don a completely different uniform than the version they wear most nights. Charlotte, Brooklyn, Aberdeen and Reading are all doing something similar this season, and almost certainly will enjoy a nice revenue bump that comes from the corresponding merchandise sales.

More Movement Coming?

The long-rumored shift between the Carolina and California leagues happened last season when High Desert and Bakersfield were shuttered in the Cal League, and the Carolina League added two franchises that became the Down East Wood Ducks and Buies Creek Astros. With the lid removed, might we see more franchise movement? Folks in San Antonio have been rumored to be seeking a move up to Triple-A, with the Pacific Coast League franchise in Colorado Springs moving there. The Texas League’s Missions would then be looking for a new home, with Texas cities Amarillo or Lubbock mentioned as possibilities, as well as former TL member Wichita. Could that trigger a more geographically friendly alignment of the Triple-A leagues? One that would place central time-zone teams like Iowa, New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville anywhere but the PCL would make a lot of sense and would make travel schedules a little bit less hectic.

Pace of Play

Game length and pace of play remain hot topics that continue to bleed into the minor leagues. Pitch clocks and other speed-up rules were instituted before the 2015 season after a trial run in the Arizona Fall League, and now the minors seem poised to add another element at the lowest levels. Major League Baseball has proposed using international-style tiebreaker rules in the Rookie-level Arizona, Dominican Summer and Gulf Coast leagues to curtail extra-inning games. If instituted as expected, any extra inning—which could be the eighth for doubleheaders—would begin with a runner on second base. The goal: promote scoring to keep games from running too long and taxing pitching staffs. None of the affected leagues had received word to institute the rules yet, but the changes seemed likely. Though used in the World Baseball Classic, tiebreaker rules aren’t likely to make their way into the majors. If they succeed in the low levels, however, there’s a chance they’d be used throughout the minors in an effort to both speed up games and save pitchers’ arms.

Tim Tebow

The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback began his baseball comeback with a tryout last August before the Mets signed him for $100,000. He played in instructional league and then the Arizona Fall League in his first pro exposure. After plenty of cameos with the big club in spring training, Tebow’s next stop will be at the low Class A level to open the minor league regular season. The Columbia Fireflies have played up Tebow’s incoming arrival, and rival teams around the South Atlantic League have played up their home dates against Columbia on Twitter. The AFL saw an uptick in attendance thanks to Tebow, and the SAL is likely to feel the same boost. He won’t have a Michael Jordan-level impact, but teams around the league are certain to feel the benefits of his presence as long as he keeps at it.

New Franchises

Buies Creek Astros

Replacing: Bakersfield Blaze (California)

The Blaze were shut down after the season as part of the California-Carolina League realignment, with the latter adding a franchise in Buies Creek, N.C. They’ll play at Jim Perry Stadium on Campbell University’s campus for the next two seasons before moving to Fayetteville, N.C., in 2019.

Down East Wood Ducks

Replacing: High Desert Mavericks (California)

The Mavericks began the season by dueling with the government in Adelanto, Calif., over the terms of their stadium lease, and closed the season with the ultimate walk-off: a championship win in their final season in the California League. They’ll bring Carolina League baseball back to a refurbished Grainger Stadium in Kinston, N.C.

Florida Fire Frogs

Used To Be: Brevard County Manatees (Florida State)

After 22 years in Brevard County, the Manatees moved across the state to Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Fla. The new franchise also became a Braves affiliate, leaving the Brewers to move their high Class A affiliation into the Carolina League.

Snap Judgments

Will Lingo is not just Baseball America’s publisher, but he’s also the self-proclaimed judge of all logos. Here are his thoughts on this year’s crop:

New Orleans Baby Cakes:

“Credit for a nice local tie, but the nickname and logo are an embarrassment.”

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp:

“This is just cartoonish for the sake of being cartoonish, with an oxymoronic nickname that is already boring.”

Lynchburg Hillcats:

“The new logo combines the hills and the cat in a much better way than the previous logo, and the color scheme is nice.”

Binghamton Rumble Ponies:

“This is actually an interesting nickname, unconventional and a legitimate local tie, though the lettering and logo themselves don’t work.”