MLB Teams Launch Informal Arizona 'Co-Op' League For Prospects To Get More Development

Image credit: (Photo by Zach Lucy/Four Seam)

Major league spring training is over, and alternate training sites are kicking into gear shortly. The rosters at the alternate sites (at least the ones who’ve made them public) appear to be largely made up of more veteran players who could be useful to big league teams if a need arises because of an injury or an outbreak of coronavirus.

Minor league spring training doesn’t get going for another couple of weeks, which in theory would leave the younger prospects who participated in big league spring training in a kind of limbo while waiting for things to get going.

So what’s the remedy? In parts of Arizona it’s a very informal league on the backfields of teams’ spring training complexes.

How informal? Some of the teams are blends of prospects from two organizations. Royals prospect Bobby Witt Jr., for example, could play in a lineup with Rangers prospect Steele Walker on a given night against a team of prospects from the Reds and Indians.

The games started on March 31 and are slated to run until April 11, Baseball America has learned. The teams known to be participating are the Royals, Reds, Indians, White Sox, Mariners and Rangers.

The benefits of holding such games is clear: It gives players who missed out on valuable reps during the shutdown and cancellation of the 2020 minor league season a few more chances to get back up to speed and avoids a roughly two-week layoff between the end of big league spring training and the beginning of minor league spring training.

Other teams discussed possibly joining the league but eventually opted against it due to the complexities of navigating Covid-19-related protocols.

Access to the games is inconsistent, with some teams choosing to close their fields to scouts and/or media while others are less restrictive.