Will Marlins Minor Leagues Change in 2021?

It appears change is on the horizon for minor league baseball teams that will affect the Miami Marlins.

If Major League Baseball gets its way, life in the minor leagues could be forever changed for 42 teams after the 2020 season including teams affiliated with the Miami Marlins.

"According to JJ Cooper of Baseball America, “The Professional Baseball Agreement (PBA) between Major League Baseball and minor league teams expires at the end of the 2020 season. But if a new MLB proposal were to become reality, more than three dozen cities with affiliated minor league teams will lose those teams a year from now and thousands of minor league players will be out of work as well.”"

The agreement, should it get ratified, would affect 42 minor league teams. Batavia and Clinton are currently on the chopping block, which would severely hamper the team’s minor league system. The Marlins have worked the past two seasons to rebuild what was a shell of a feeder system where players were jettisoned in bad deals during the Jeffrey Loria era of ownership.

Current Marlins owners, Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman have made the establishment of a solid minor league system the foundation of their plan to rebuild a contender in South Florida. According to MLB Pipeline, the Marlins are currently fourth in all of baseball.

This is just a proposal at the moment, but it has the chance to dramatically affect the beginning careers of hundreds of players in the minors.

More from Marlins News

• Miami Marlins news: Another target gone
• Why didn’t the Miami Marlins sign JDM?
• Miami Marlins rejected Boston‘s trade offer
• Miami Marlins are pursuing Michael Conforto
• Miami Marlins need to spend to win

"“The MLB proposal is just one idea at the start of what will likely be a lengthy negotiation, but the two sides are further apart than they have been in any PBA negotiation since 1990,” Cooper adds.“At the core of the negotiations, MLB is looking to dramatically improve Minor League Baseball’s stadium facilities as well as take control over how the minor leagues are organized as far as affiliations and the geography of leagues. Those areas have been under the control of MiLB for the past 100-plus years and would lead to a dramatic restructuring of how MiLB is governed and operates.”"

This is not a situation MiLB is taking lightly and is challenging the proposal put forth by its big brother. The goal is to come up with a plan that benefits everyone involved. The onus of the initial pact is for the facilities at stadiums in the minors are improved for the players and teams as well as the baseball experience for the fans.

"“We are engaged with Major League Baseball on a successor agreement to the PBA. It’s early in the negotiations, and that’s the most I can say,” MiLB president Pat O’Conner said."

Time isn’t running out yet, but the winter months will move to spring quickly. A new agreement must be in place after the 2020 season and before the 2021 season starts.

Batavia is the Marlins short-season team in New York while Clinton is the Single-A team that replaced Greenville last season.