There will be 450 fewer roster spots in the domestic minor leagues in 2024 than there were a year ago.
It will be easy to miss the change. Teams will still field five U.S. minor league teams, one Rookie complex affiliate and four full-season clubs. The change means that teams will go from having 36 to 33 rosterable
players per team. Since Triple-A and Double-A teams are limited to 28 active players and Class A clubs are limited to 30, how big of a deal is it to have the number of non-active players reduced?
For a lot of coaches and front office officials, it’s huge. “All 30 farm directors, the first thing and last thing we do each day is
(figure out) ‘do we have enough bodies?’ This is going to make that part of the day tougher,” one farm director said. “You want to make sure you’re covered every night. It will get tougher.”
MLB this year reduced the number of active minor league players an organization can have under contract from 180 to 165. The 15-player reduction applies to organizations’ domestic minor league rosters and does not include Dominican Summer League players.
Even the old limit of 180 players, which was enacted in 2021, was a dramatic change from the previous model. Before the pandemic, an organization could effectively roster as many minor league players as it wanted by adding affiliates—and thus roster spots—to its farm system.
The Yankees in 2019, for example, had four minor league clubs below the full-season level: two Rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliates, one in the Rookie-advanced Appalachian League and a fourth in the short-season New York-Penn League. Today, the Yankees are permitted only one such domestic short-season club, their Florida Complex League affiliate.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March/April 2024-Ausgabe von Baseball America.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March/April 2024-Ausgabe von Baseball America.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
NOBODY'S PERFECT
No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday has one flaw in an otherwise airtight profile
ORGANIZATION REPORTS
At nearly every level of his professional career, outfielder Colton Cowser has taken time to acclimate. His major league debut last season was no different.
ORGANIZATION TALENT RANKINGS
For the second consecutive year, the Orioles enter the season with the best farm system in baseball.
WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN WITH NEW ROSTER LIMITS
No one can fully predict what will happen with the reduced 165-player minor league roster limits, but baseball officials weighed in with predictions for 2024, some of which we heard repeatedly.
NO MORE SLACK IN THE SYSTEM
The in domestic minor leagues creates consternation for farm directors
INTERNATIONAL TREASURES
Why MLB teams value foreign professionals more than ever
HIGH-FLYING BIRDS
Learning from past success and failure in Houston, Mike Elias and his united front office remade the Orioles into winners— and they got there ahead of schedule
ARIZONA COMPLEX LEAGUE TOP 10
Early promotions of star prospects led to a bit of a down season for the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League.
FLORIDA COMPLEX LEAGUE TOP 10
Even before the Rookie-level Florida Complex League season began, scouts who saw extended spring training gushed over the Yankees' talent, starting with shortstop Roderick Arias and 6-foot7 pitchers Henry Lalane and Carlos Lagrange. Outfielder John Cruz mashed 10 home runs as a 17-year-old.
SALAS COULD BE SPECIAL
When Ethan Salas arrived in the California League on May 30, he immediately displayed talent well beyond his years.