Effectively Wild Episode 1628: What MLB’s Remaking of the Minors Means by Ben Lindbergh December 11, 2020 Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about and the Phillies’ surprise hiring of Dave Dombrowski as their president of baseball operations, then (15:04) bring on Baseball America executive editor J.J. Cooper to talk about the ongoing overhaul of the minor leagues, the history of the relationship between the majors and minors, why MLB sought to consolidate its control over amateur ball and the minor leagues, the impact of the pandemic, the pending improvements in conditions for minor leaguers, the virtues of amateur ball versus affiliated ball, minor league owners as sympathetic figures, how the 120 affiliated teams were determined, efficiency vs. access to the sport, and whether baseball will be better or worse off in the long run. Audio intro: Whitney, "Dave’s Song" Audio interstitial: The Strokes, "Under Control" Audio outro: The Orange Peels, "Take Me Over" Link to Jayson Stark on the Phillies hiring Dombrowski Link to a compendium of J.J.’s coverage Link to J.J. on the 120 teams announcement Link to Evan Drellich on the 120 teams announcement Link to J.J. on how the 120 teams were chosen Link to J.J. on what’s next for excluded teams Link to J.J. on expanded player limits Link to J.J. on the Staten Island Yankees lawsuit Link to J.J. on the new amateur leagues Link to J.J. on the origins of short-season ball Link to J.J. on minor league player expenses Link to J.J. on minor league facility upgrades Link to Baseball America podcast Link to preorder the Baseball America 2021 Prospect Handbook iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!) Sponsor Us on Patreon Facebook Group Effectively Wild Wiki Twitter Account Get Our Merch! Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com https://media.blubrry.com/effectively_wild/p/cdn-podcasts.fangraphs.com/EffectivelyWildEpisode1628a.mp3Podcast (effectively-wild): Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS