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I'm just curious and don't understand the structure too well. I've been reading a few articles about Las Vegas 51s and had some questions, and couldn't find any clear answers on wiki etc.
Could a Pacific coast league team relocate into International league "region"? IL operates in the Eastern time zone, PCL operates outside of that zone. Is there some agreement to not go into each other's 'region'? Does MLB prevent such relocations? For example, Las Vegas 51s decide to leave their old stadium and are offered a new stadium in an Eastern city like Orlando, New Haven, Bridgeport, etc that don't have any AAA, AA or A teams. Can they move into those cities?
Another question, although I probably know the answer. Are markets basically "finders, keepers"? For example, Portland, Orlando, Tucson, New Haven have no clubs right now. Imagine an A club moves there. These are big markets. Does the A club now "own" that big market, and it's protected from higher level clubs moving there?
Or lets say the Las Vegas AAA club wants to move to Vancouver which has an A club or San Antonio which has AA. They can't do it, right? The Vegas club would have to first buy those small clubs, or pay them off to move away?
A lot of questions, but I'm really curious. Thanks if someone can explain it!
Interesting questions.. I would think that the leagues themselves would have some say. Considering that the PCL has teams as far east as Memphis... I don't think they have any geographical restrictions..
When a minor league team 'sets up shop' I think they do have some exclusivity.. It's not a whole lot.. Here in SC, we used to have the AA Greenville Braves, and Spartanburg, less than 20 miles away, had the Spartanburg Phillies.
Both teams have moved away. The Phillies have become the Kannapolis Intimidators and the G-Braves became the Mississippi Braves.. But the Columbia A team moved and changed from the Capital City Bombers to the Greenville Drive.
If a team was already located in a market, I'd think they'd have to agree to move away before another team was allowed in. There's a current, similar, situation happening right now with the AAA Sky Sox. They're planning to move to San Antonio, which already has a AA team, but that team will move to Amarillo. This situation is a bit easier to wrap your head around, because both teams are owned by the same group.
Yep, league names are outdated. Pacific Coast League has most teams outside of Pacific coast, International league - not international anymore, Texas league has many clubs outside of Texas, Carolina league is now mostly in Virginia, etc.
But if we forget historic names and look only at geography, all of PCL clubs are west of all International league clubs. Nashville and Memphis are to the west of all International clubs. There seems to be clear east / west regional division between these leagues.
So that made me wonder if there's some agreement, how it all works. Would Las Vegas or Colorado Springs AAA be prevented from moving to Orlando etc. I guess there must be an agreement, because this east-west regional division looks just too 'clean'.
I would imagine that every time a ML team moved into a city (either by relocation or a brand new team), there was an existing minor league team in the area. I do not know the mechanism by which they vacate, but clearly they do.
Yep, league names are outdated. Pacific Coast League has most teams outside of Pacific coast, International league - not international anymore, Texas league has many clubs outside of Texas, Carolina league is now mostly in Virginia, etc.
But if we forget historic names and look only at geography, all of PCL clubs are west of all International league clubs. Nashville and Memphis are to the west of all International clubs. There seems to be clear east / west regional division between these leagues.
So that made me wonder if there's some agreement, how it all works. Would Las Vegas or Colorado Springs AAA be prevented from moving to Orlando etc. I guess there must be an agreement, because this east-west regional division looks just too 'clean'.
Due to adding two teams from the California League for 2017, half of the Carolina League is in NC. (Though the Astros still aren't guaranteed just yet to be in Fayetteville. They may have a temporary home in 2017.) Va.has 3 CL clubs, SC, DE & MD have I each. The Wilmington (DE) have long been trying to land an AA team. They almost acquired the Binghamton club in 2015.
No matter what happens, final approval comes the relocated team following minor league requirements for their respective league (seating capacity, etc.), and staying outside protected boundaries of other teams. For instance, the Carolina Mudcats are just beyond the 35 mile protected area of the Durham Bulls. Despite being surrounded by farmland near a small town, the Mudcats draw well, though they have had difficulty keeping an affiliation since the turn of the century. I'm sure the team would be better off in downtown Raleigh, but that's, by minor league guidelines, is Durham's territory. Please note that these are more modern rules. Back in the day, there were teams everywhere with no real restrictions.
Please note that these are more modern rules. Back in the day, there were teams everywhere with no real restrictions.
Depends on what you mean by modern. They've been around as long as I can remember.
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