Baseball Digest has a web site to post ALL the eventual moves. Right now only the Yankees moves are known. But you have to assume the rest are going to bust out soon....
https://ballparkdigest.com/200905261...ate-dance-2012
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Baseball Digest has a web site to post ALL the eventual moves. Right now only the Yankees moves are known. But you have to assume the rest are going to bust out soon....
https://ballparkdigest.com/200905261...ate-dance-2012
According to that, the Florida State League will be reduced from 12 to 10. Ten other teams (other than Daytona/Reds and Atlanta) are all teams where the team plays in the same facility as their minor league HQ's. It does make a lot of sense that FSL is Low A. When a player gets promoted from Rookie League to Low A, they don't even have to take a trip. And attendance is terrible in FSL. The Low A thing makes sense.
But assuming Daytona is one of the casualties, some other team is going to be forced away from home. The surest bet would be Atlanta who owns a team in Rome Georgia in the Sally League which is low A now.
Other strikes against Daytona? A very old stadium, that is a hodgepodge of old and kinda new. A location that is far away from either the east coast hub or west coast hubs of teams. And a tenant (the Reds) who are probably anxious to move to a closer (probably) South Atlantic League location.
So what location? Well, we know the Charleston (SC) River Dogs are open since Yankees neutered them. The SF Giants gave a California League team in San Jose, so since that is now Low A, they no longer need to be in Augusta Georgia as the Green Jackets. So that's a possibility.
Likewise Seattle will now have a Low A team in Modesto, so will no longer need one in Charleston (WV). One would think that location would be VERY intriguing for Reds. But it would also be prime for Pirates.
But at least 2 net teams are leaving the SAL. And there's been references to a true Carolina League (High A). That would mean (probably).
As I ponder the possibilities, the Augusta Green Jackets keep jumping out at me.
As far as AA..... who knows with Chattanooga?
If I were ruler of baseball, I'd like to see the Reds with the following affiliates:
AAA Louisville
Why mess with a good relationship? It's close. The stadium is still top-notch, and it draws well. Makes for an easy commute.
AA Bowling Green, KY (as rumored)
The rumor is that the Hot Rods are destined to Double-A. That works well with Cincinnati. Their stadium is beautiful, modern, and their attendance is good. It will likely be even better as the AA partner of the Reds.
High A Dayton (as rumored)
Again, they're a great fit and have been for years. Easiest choice on the list.
Low A Lexington
I'm hopeful Lexington doesn't get contracted. They play in a nearly brand-new ballpark with all the modern conveniences and draw well. Baseball Digest named Whitaker Field the best among low A parks, fwiw. Cincinnati is the closest MLB team (by far). The travel for the league is a bit long-- they'd be housed in the South Atlantic League, but it's nothing they haven't done previously.
The travel between teams is miniscule, and the thread of fan interest is clear. This would be, IMO, the best possible world for 2021. (So of course, it won't happen.)
It actually could happen this time.
This guy has minor league blog and speculates on where teams end up
http://minorleaguesource.com/blog/
I did some what-if scenarios, and Augusta kept popping up as a possibility.
NY Mets have announced have announced their new affiliations.
Triple-A will remain in Syracuse. Double-A Binghamton, Brookly will be High-A. St. Lucie will be Low-A. Columbia has been dropped.
Edit; I guess it's a NY thing. Columbia found out via Twitter.
Edit 2; Per Matt Kardos on Twitter - "Baseball America reports that numerous sources said Columbia has another affiliate already. "
Rochester who was notified today that they were losing the Twins AAA franchise, were told they'd have their new team by Dec 1st. So I'm assuming that's the deadline for everything to be decided/announced.
MLB just sent word to all the teams to stop leaking the franchise changes. This is after the NY teams get to do it. One set of rules for them, another for everyone else.
We're going to lose our AAA team in Wichita before they played their first game here. Back to the AA Texas League, which makes much more geographic sense.
Not sure why it makes sense for the Dodgers to have AA and AAA in Oklahoma after this realignment.
Moving Dayton to High A and having Lexington be the new Low A Reds affiliate makes too much sense to actually happen.
Baseball Digest hinted that maybe announcement is coming tomorrow. (Friday the 13th)
There's a chance Lexington gets squeezed out. They are isolated geographically from where teams are headed. There will be a South Atlantic League (Georgia, SC, NC) and a Mid_Atlantic (Va, WV, MD, Del, NY) league.