As the 2020 Major League Baseball season comes to an end, ideas and plans for the 2021 MiLB season are beginning to come to light and take shape. While we still do not know which teams will be among the 120 full-season teams for 2021, we do know some teams that are for certain not going to be a part of that plan, and some are located in the Appalachian League, and now possibly the New York-Penn League as well.
MLB announced in September that the Appalachian League was being converted to a collegiate wood-bat circuit. This affected the Mets’ former rookie-level affiliate, the Kingsport Mets, who are now no longer affiliated with the Mets and will serve as one of the summer league teams. The Appalachian wood-bat circuit is a league created for college freshmen and sophomores to showcase their talents beyond their collegiate seasons..
As Baseball America reported, MLB is now discussing also converting New York-Penn League to a Summer Wood Bat Circuit as well. Should this plan come through, the Mets’ Double-A affiliate Brooklyn Cyclones may be forced to join another league or de-affiliate with the Mets and become a summer wood-bat league. The New York-Penn League would be used for draft-eligible seniors to showcase their talents to scouts ahead of the MLB Draft.
Under MLB’s plan, rising juniors would be encouraged to participate in the current Cape Cod League.
The idea behind the various wood-bat leagues is that now that the draft is held during All-Star Weekend in July, it would allow time for draft-eligible players to play in front of MLB scouts for upwards of six weeks ahead of the MLB draft.
Currently, the NYPL plays a 76-game season. Under the new proposed season, the teams would play 60-games, losing eight home games a piece and a revenue loss of $250,000-$500,000. Because of their needs, not all current NYPL teams may take part in this plan. Some may choose to join another league as it is expected that more smaller-market teams would be ideal for the NYPL Wood-Bat Circuit.
MLB is not expected to announce which teams will remain full-season affiliates until after the election or several weeks after. It won’t be until this announcement that we know for sure which team(s) will remain full-season affiliates of the New York Mets.
