Confirmed with Link: Carolina Mudcats - New Affiliation for 2016

[garnetpalmetto]

Looks like their relationship with the Braves was short and unproductive.

http://www.talkingchop.com/2016/9/16/12946204/atlanta-braves-move-high-a-from-carolina-mudcats-brevard-county-manatees

With the Braves moving their affiliation to the new team in Kissimmee, FL (the relocated Brevard County Manatees), the Mudcats will have to seek a new affiliate. Open affiliations at the High-A will be the Rockies (displaced from Modesto, CA after Seattle purchases the Modesto Nuts) and the Brewers (who were formerly with Brevard County). I give the Rockies the inside edge due to Asheville being where their Low-A team is. That'd also be a little ironic given that the Double-A affiliate of the Rockies are the Hartford Yard Goats.

Any preferences from y'all between the Rockies or Brew Crew?

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[Vagrant]

Looks like their relationship with the Braves was short and unproductive.

http://www.talkingchop.com/2016/9/16/12946204/atlanta-braves-move-high-a-from-carolina-mudcats-brevard-county-manatees

With the Braves moving their affiliation to the new team in Kissimmee, FL (the relocated Brevard County Manatees), the Mudcats will have to seek a new affiliate. Open affiliations at the High-A will be the Rockies (displaced from Modesto, CA after Seattle purchases the Modesto Nuts) and the Brewers (who were formerly with Brevard County). I give the Rockies the inside edge due to Asheville being where their Low-A team is. That'd also be a little ironic given that the Double-A affiliate of the Rockies are the Hartford Yard Goats.

Any preferences from y'all between the Rockies or Brew Crew?

High A is such a crappy level of baseball. I would much rather have a low A squad or ideally a AA squad. High A is where they stash the tweeners.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

High A is such a crappy level of baseball. I would much rather have a low A squad or ideally a AA squad. High A is where they stash the tweeners.

Not really, Vagrant - it honestly depends on the organization. There are some that will start their top prospects in High-A, but almost no org that I'm aware of stashes tweeners at High-A or skips guys from Low-A to Double-A. Triple-A is more the weird level of ball - some orgs treat it as the next step to the bigs (like the Rays do) and others treat it as a parking lot for the guys too good for the minors but not good enough for the Majors (the Marlins tend to do this)

 

[Vagrant]

Not really, Vagrant - it honestly depends on the organization. There are some that will start their top prospects in High-A, but almost no org that I'm aware of stashes tweeners at High-A or skips guys from Low-A to Double-A. Triple-A is more the weird level of ball - some orgs treat it as the next step to the bigs (like the Rays do) and others treat it as a parking lot for the guys too good for the minors but not good enough for the Majors (the Marlins tend to do this)

Well, I feel like it's an organizational half-step. A lot of teams do promote from A to AA, especially if a guy plays in the AFL for example. Most of the time the jump from A to A+ seems like a "well, we're not totally sure you're ready for AA so try this out for a month" type deal. One situation that might impact that decision is a guy blocking another top prospect. In that case, like the Braves did with Albies and Swanson, you might see one in High A and one in AA. Low A is the placement league. It determines where you go from there. I have seen very few top prospects that raked in Low A not get an aggressive promotion.

 

[GoldiFox]

I went to a Mudcats game on a whim last season because the stadium is about 5 miles from my house. You couldn't pay me to go to another one, it was more boring than I could have ever imagined.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

I went to a Mudcats game on a whim last season because the stadium is about 5 miles from my house. You couldn't pay me to go to another one, it was more boring than I could have ever imagined.

That stadium is awful. With all the room they have out there I have no idea why they opted for that ridiculous minuscule lower bowl/gargantuan upper bowl arrangement. It's even worse in the dead heat of summer what with there being no roof or awning on the upper deck.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

That stadium is awful. With all the room they have out there I have no idea why they opted for that ridiculous minuscule lower bowl/gargantuan upper bowl arrangement. It's even worse in the dead heat of summer what with there being no roof or awning on the upper deck.

well, that and the fact that it is baseball

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

well, that and the fact that it is baseball

i was about to say, i went to my first braves game in april and had the same conclusion

 

[the halleJOKEL]

hey!

i fell asleep at a braves game once, the only time i ever fell asleep at a sporting event!

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Karma for screwing Kinston out of their baseball team.

 

[HisIceness]

Rockies affiliate in the 90's right? Just go with them.

I went to a Mudcats game on a whim last season because the stadium is about 5 miles from my house. You couldn't pay me to go to another one, it was more boring than I could have ever imagined.

I don't know how they stay in business. The stadium is meh at best, has an awful seating bowl design w/ little shade, is in a bad location. I was there 5 years ago for a weekend game in which maybe 1500 people bothered to show up, meanwhile the Bulls had a game that same evening and had about 8000.

I'm pretty certain most Wake County residents go to Durham for baseball rather than Zeublon. The Mudcats would be a more enjoyable experience if they were moved to a better part of Wake County.

 

[nobuddy]

The best was when the 2013 Mudcats had a sizable portion of what currently makes up the Indians roster.

Lindor was there, and other guys like Naquin, Wolters, Urshela, and Aguilar have all gone on to play in the bigs to varying degrees.

 

[cptjeff]

In the early 90s, the Grasshoppers (Bats or Hornets at the time) had Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Don Mattingly, and Mariano Rivera. Just sayin'. Low A gets some decent players.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Rockies affiliate in the 90's right? Just go with them.



I don't know how they stay in business. The stadium is meh at best, has an awful seating bowl design w/ little shade, is in a bad location. I was there 5 years ago for a weekend game in which maybe 1500 people bothered to show up, meanwhile the Bulls had a game that same evening and had about 8000.

I'm pretty certain most Wake County residents go to Durham for baseball rather than Zeublon. The Mudcats would be a more enjoyable experience if they were moved to a better part of Wake County.

Which will never happen because of the MiLB 35-mile rule.

I worked for the Bulls when the Mudcats first came to town. It's always been personal between these two franchises.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Rockies affiliate in the 90's right? Just go with them.



I don't know how they stay in business. The stadium is meh at best, has an awful seating bowl design w/ little shade, is in a bad location. I was there 5 years ago for a weekend game in which maybe 1500 people bothered to show up, meanwhile the Bulls had a game that same evening and had about 8000.

I'm pretty certain most Wake County residents go to Durham for baseball rather than Zeublon. The Mudcats would be a more enjoyable experience if they were moved to a better part of Wake County.

So the news going around the Internets is that Steve Bryant, the Mudcats owner, is looking to sell a majority share of the team to an MLB franchise. That would lock an MLB affiliation in place for perpetuity (or until the MLB team sells their stake of the team). Given that one of the reasons he sold the Double-A Mudcats franchise was being increasingly unable to foot the bill for travel in the Southern League, it could be Bryant's seeking an MLB partner to carry more of the costs while he stays on as local management.

The best was when the 2013 Mudcats had a sizable portion of what currently makes up the Indians roster.

Lindor was there, and other guys like Naquin, Wolters, Urshela, and Aguilar have all gone on to play in the bigs to varying degrees.

And still were the worst team in the Carolina League.

In the early 90s, the Grasshoppers (Bats or Hornets at the time) had Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Don Mattingly, and Mariano Rivera. Just sayin'. Low A gets some decent players.

Oh no doubt about it. But Advanced A does too is all I'm saying - it's not quite the parking lot Vagrant makes it out to be (again, if any level is, Triple-A is more for certain franchises.) Looking over the last decade of 1st overall picks:

2005 - Justin Upton (Diamondbacks) - Started in Low A. Started 2007 season in Advanced A. Spent 32 games before called up to Double-A.

2006 - Luke Hochevar (Royals)- Started in Low A, skipped to Double-A the next season

2007 - David Price (Rays) - Started in Advanced A

2008 - Tim Beckham (Rays) - Started in Rookie. Spent the entire 2010 season in Advanced A

2009 - Stephen Strasburg (Nationals) - Started in Double-A

2010 - Bryce Harper (Nationals) - Started in Low-A, skipped to Double-A that season

2011 - Gerrit Cole (Pirates) - Started in Advanced A.

2012 - Carlos Correa (Astros) - Started in Rookie. Spent the entire 2014 season in Advanced A.

2013 - Mark Appel (Astros) - Started in Short Season A, started the 2014 season in Advanced A, pitched 12 games before being called up to Double A

2014 - Brady Aiken (Astros) - Didn't sign. Signed the next season with the Indians, started in Rookie.

2015 - Dansby Swanson (Diamondbacks) - Started in Short Season A. Traded to the Braves who started him in Advanced A in 2016. Spent 21 games there until called up to Double A.

2016 - Mickey Moniak (Phillies) - Started in Rookie.

So that's everybody except Hochevar, Strasburg, and Harper that went to Double-A. Strasburg and Harper are unique in that the Nationals wanted to keep them away from their affiliate in Potomac due to the poor facilities at that park. At the time Hochevar started out, KC's High-A affiliate was High Desert of the California League - one of the worst parks for pitchers in all of minor league baseball. Not a surprise they wanted to avoid that like the plague either.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Advanced A has always had plenty of good players come through. I was in Durham in '96 when they were the Advanced A affiliate for the Braves, and they had Andruw Jones on their roster for the full first half of the season. By October he was hitting home runs in Yankee Stadium. Wes Helms, Randall Simon, and John Rocker (lol) were all on that roster, and they all had decent MLB careers.

 

[NotOpie]

Also, the Durham Bulls were one-time a high A franchise. In the late '80s you could go see Ron Gant, David Justice, Steve Avery, and Jeff Blauser all play on a given night/afternoon, sometimes, IIRC, even on the same field.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Also, the Durham Bulls were one-time a high A franchise. In the late '80s you could go see Ron Gant, David Justice, Steve Avery, and Jeff Blauser all play on a given night/afternoon, sometimes, IIRC, even on the same field.

And Chipper came through in the early '90s.

 

[NotOpie]

And Chipper came through in the early '90s.

Back in the day I lived in Trinity Park in downtown Durham and walked to the stadium. You could hear when homers were hit but the roar of the crowd. Sometimes my evenings would start with me sitting on my front porch (lived in a duplex on Gregson) watching the Durham High marching band practice and then hear the Bulls crowd roaring. Durham Bulls ballpark burritos were a thing of beauty back then.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Aw yeah. Back in the day.

 

[Novacane]

Baseball LUL

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Baseball LUL

Local Man Jumps On Clearly Baseball Related Thread to Talk **** About Baseball.

You Won't Believe What Happens Next!

 

[the halleJOKEL]

thats right novacane

you take the fall for all of us

 

[NotOpie]

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I know this is terrible to admit, but I don't have the attention span for baseball anymore, LOL. I only watch it during the playoffs. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯