Baseball America reported Tuesday that minor league baseball officials have agreed to a Major League Baseball proposal that will reduce the number of minor league teams from 160 to 120 in the new Professional Baseball Agreement.
The Chattanooga Lookouts were mentioned last November in a New York Times article among 42 teams facing potential contraction, but the MLB responded by claiming that list was inaccurate. Baseball America reported Tuesday that 42 teams still could be contracted due to a pair of independent league teams, the St. Paul (Minnesota) Saints and the Sugar Land (Texas) Skeeters, being added to affiliated ball.
MiLB representatives initially opposed contraction, but Baseball America reported that an agreement could occur as soon as Wednesday, adding that the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic halting sports played a role in shifting the MiLB's opinion.
"Once again, we know nothing at all," Lookouts president Rich Mozingo said Tuesday. "We've read the same article that you've read, and nobody has come to us saying that we are on or off the list. By reading the article and just doing the math, it seems like we're on the right side of it."
According to Baseball America, each big-league team will have four full-season affiliates plus one rookie-level team that will reside at its spring training complex. There were 22 teams last year in the two short-season leagues - New York-Penn and Northwest - and 18 teams in the two rookie advanced leagues - Appalachian and Pioneer.
There are also 21 rookie ball teams in the Arizona League and 18 in the Gulf Coast League.
"If they're hanging their hat on the number 42, you've got to add some of those teams back to where it becomes an addition problem and not a subtraction problem," Mozingo said. "The math doesn't add up from the article that's out there at this moment. They're supposed to meet tomorrow, according to the article, but I don't know when we're going to hear."
Baseball America reported Tuesday that neither MLB nor MiLB representatives are commenting publicly about the negotiations.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.