Minor-league baseball has not been canceled yet, but it certainly is in danger.
In turn, so is the development of prospects across the sport, and the Pirates are no exception.
Although MILB, the various minor leagues' governing entity, denied a report this week that the 2020 season had been canceled, the coronavirus shutdown has caused such a long delay that it has made a season unlikely. Major League Baseball could get started playing in empty stadiums in late June or early July and extend well into October, but the minors do not have the same luxury. Since they do not have anywhere near the same level of broadcasting/advertising/sponsorship deals in place, ticket sales make up a much larger part of their revenues. Those facilities could also be needed for other events, like the Arizona Fall League, and teams would be very hesitant to shorten the offseason for their younger players.
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 29, 2020
Minor-league games serve one primary purpose: Give prospects a chance to develop. If the season were canceled ...
"We’ve been thinking a lot about development as it relates to playing time. This is something every team is facing," Ben Cherington said in a conference call this week. "The vast majority of players are at points in their careers where going a full calendar year without playing live baseball against high-level competition would be the last thing you’d prescribe. Whatever we thought was optimal for Player A or Player B is not going to look like that in 2020."
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