Minor League Owners Elect Four Representatives To Executive Board

Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected to accurate list the team that Reid Ryan owns.

Minor league baseball owners have elected their four representatives for the Minor League Executive Board.

Triple-A’s representative will be Reid Ryan, CEO of Ryan-Sanders Sports, which owns Triple-A Round Rock.

Double-A’s representative will be Ken Babby, owner of Triple-A Jacksonville and Double-A Akron.

High-A’s representative will be Jason Freier, owner of Double-A Chattanooga, High-A Fort Wayne and Low-A Columbia.

Low-A’s representative will be Jeff Eiseman, president of Agon Sports and Entertainment, which owns Low-A Augusta as well as Boise of the partner Pioneer League.

Each representative was elected by a vote of each level’s 30 Professional Development License-holders.

Under normal circumstances, Executive Board members will be elected for four-year terms. Because this is the initial election, however, the terms will be staggered to ensure regular turnover. The Low-A term is for one year, High-A is for two, Double-A is for three and Triple-A is for the full four years.

The Executive Board will be a nine-person committee which includes four minor league owners as well as two Major League Baseball team officials, two MLB league officials and one neutral member with no ties to either MLB or minor league team interests. MLB is expected to announce its four executive board members shortly.

The Executive Board will handle disputes between teams from minor and major league baseball, advise on the licensing, marketing and sponsorship sales around the minor leagues and recommend tweaks and alterations to the PDLs. If given significant power, the Executive Board could provide a way for MLB and MiLB to collectively resolve joint issues.

For instance, the Executive Board will be responsible for developing a formula for compensation of any team that is in compliance with the PDL who is not offered a renewed PDL at the end of the current 10-year term. That decision has to be completed by three years before the expiration of the 10-year licenses.

The MLB Commissioner’s office retains final decision-making authority over most issues.