There Will Be Minor League Baseball In 2022, Regardless, Which ...

Rob Lynn / Altoona Curve

Roansy Conteras pitches for the Altoona Curve during the 2021 season.

PiratesThere will be minor-league ball in 2022, regardless, which thrills affiliatesBy Cory Giger

Dec 3, 2021 • 5:59 pm

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ALTOONA, Pa. -- No matter what happens with Major League Baseball's lockout -- if some or all games in 2022 get canceled -- there still will be professional baseball played all across the country.

In the minor leagues.

Many baseball fans may know this already, but for those who don't, the lockout will not prevent your local minor league affiliate from playing its schedule next year. For an industry consisting of 120 franchises that have endured a lot of bad news the past two years, it's a whole lot of good news that their businesses will be able to operate as usual despite the labor stoppage at the big league level.

"We're thrilled to hear that Major League Baseball is committed to our full minor-league season, even in the face of the uncertainty of this lockout," said Katie Dannemiller, vice president of baseball operations for the Pirates' high Class A affiliate, the Greensboro Grasshoppers. "After losing the 2020 season to the pandemic, our fans are thrilled at the news and to see that this does not affect the minor-league baseball season."

The primary change an extended lockout would bring to minor league baseball would be that members of an organization's 40-man roster could not play for a minor-league affiliate. That's because 40-man roster players are members of the MLB Players Association.

There typically are a number of Pirates 40-man roster guys on the Class AAA Indianapolis Indians' roster, but that would not be the case if the lockout runs into the season.

Indians general manager Randy Lewandowski said he has faith that the Pirates would still send a strong roster to Indy.

"There's trust that the Pirates with Ben Cherington and John Baker they're gonna do the best they can to round out those rosters and have a lot of talent here in Indianapolis," Lewandowski said.

Constructing rosters at the upper-level affiliates would be much more tricky if 40-man guys are not allowed to play. It could force teams to perhaps send prospects up to a higher level than they normally would be ready to play at, to make sure the Triple-A and Double-A rosters are filled and, presumably, competitive.

Aside from that element -- which would be solely for the big league clubs to work out -- fans probably won't notice anything different when they head out to minor league games next year.

"Pretty much everyone has told us that our season is proceeding as normal," Curve general manager Nate Bowen said.

"The 40-man roster players would not be able to play, but the rest of the minor-league season would continue as normal."

The Curve typically have a few 40-man roster guys, but not many. Their roster, however, could be impacted by, again, having some players who typically would be in Class AA getting sent to Class AAA instead.

Regardless of all that, just being able to have a season is wonderful news to the minor league affiliates. The entire industry felt the financial crunch of having the 2020 season canceled, and some COVID issues lingered into the 2021 campaign, as well.

"The whole thing is more reassuring," Bowen said. "And I guess we're in a much better position this year for sure than even going into the 2021 season from a standpoint that we do have a schedule and times for all the games. Even though we knew we were going to be playing in 2021, we just didn't know when or what it was going to look like."

"We're glad that Major League Baseball is committed to a full minor-league season," Lewandowski said. "After all the minor-leagues club lost the 2020 season to the pandemic, that was a challenge for everybody, but we're thrilled, and our fans will be thrilled by this news."

The Indianapolis media pointed it out earlier this week that there would be a season, despite the lockout, so Lewandowski said fans there have known about it. Bowen said some Curve fans have been calling to find out what the lockout could mean for the franchise.

Dannemiller said she hadn't heard from any Grasshoppers fans wondering about the 2022 season.

"Like all baseball fans, we're rooting for common ground and hopeful that an agreement will be reached in a timely fashion," she said of the MLB situation.

If in fact major league games are canceled, minor league franchises could find their attendance increasing as baseball hungry fans seek out games to attend somewhere.

"Some of that depends on market location, I guess," Bowen said. "We're so close to a major-league market (in Altoona) that it's easier for fans to come here. But some of the other (minor-league) teams that it's hours and hours to get to the closest major-league team, I don't know."

Even though minor league baseball games will still take place -- and that's good for the franchises -- there's no doubt the sport will be hurt if big-league games are canceled.

"It's not good for anyone if they're not playing," Bowen said.

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