After A Season That Wasn't, Minor League Teams Wait For Their Fate

In a normal world, Saturday would have marked the final slate of games in the Rookie-level Pioneer League. The final out recorded—whether it was in Great Falls or Billings or Orem or Ogden—would have officially closed the 2020 minor league regular season.

The 15 other domestic leagues would be well into their playoffs—some might have already crowned a champion—but the regular year wouldn’t have officially closed until the Pioneer League’s final game.

But this year was far from normal. That’s been obvious since March 12, when spring training shut down and players headed home because of the coronavirus pandemic. Two and a half months later, on June 30, the reality of the situation was hammered home when the league finally pulled the plug on the season.

At that point, teams were freed to use their parks however they chose until the next time MiLB returned. For some, that meant hosting different kinds of baseball, like summer collegiate leagues, high school tournaments and showcases or private batting practices for the general public.

For others, especially those with spacious parking lots and high-quality videoboards, that meant drive-in movies. Others rented out their ballparks as Airbnbs. Others turned their outfields into restaurants. Some sold T-shirts to “commemorate” the season that wasn’t.

In a way, all of that was just an extension of what they would normally do starting now, assuming their team was eliminated from the playoffs. The moment baseball ends, minor league teams become event-hosting companies, using their facilities in as many ways as they can imagine to continue bringing in revenue for the seven months without baseball.

But this offseason will be different because of all of its surrounding uncertainty. For a start, there are likely to be 40 fewer affiliated teams next season if Major League Baseball’s plan to streamline and realign the minor leagues goes through as planned.