Left out in the cold by the Yankees moving their Double-A affiliate to Somerset, the Trenton Thunder will live on as part of the new MLB Draft League.
Major League Baseball announced Monday the formation of the MLB Draft League, which “will become the first league in the country focused on top prospects who are eligible to be drafted by MLB Clubs that summer” and give “draft-eligible players a unique opportunity to showcase their abilities and gain exposure to MLB Clubs and fans next summer.”
The Thunder are one of currently five founding teams, each of the other four coming from the now-defunct Short-Season Class-A New York-Penn League: the Mahoning Valley (OH) Scrappers, State College Spikes, West Virginia Black Bears, and Williamsport Crosscutters.
The format plans for a 68-game regular season with an annual All-Star break around the Draft (which has been moved to MLB All-Star week in July), and partner Prep Baseball Report will “provide support for the league’s staffing, player and coach recruitment, on-field operations, and administrative functions” and “also use their media and technology platforms to promote the league and its players throughout the season.
“We are thrilled to partner with Prep Baseball Report and the founding members of the MLB Draft League to create a one-of-a-kind league that will attract the nation’s top players who are eligible for each year’s MLB Draft and allow local fans to see top prospects and future big-league stars in their hometowns,” Morgan Sword, MLB’s Executive Vice President, Baseball Economics & Operations, said in the league release. “This announcement continues MLB’s commitment to preserving and growing baseball in communities around the United States.”
Per MLB, there are talks for a sixth team to be added, and “more announcements, including additional members of the MLB Draft League, other MLB-sponsored leagues as well as licensed affiliates, will follow in the coming weeks.”
MLB has already announced that the former Advanced-Rookie level Appalachian League will become a wood-bat league for collegiate underclassmen, and announced on Monday that the other former Advanced-Rookie League, the Pioneer League, will remain intact but instead become an independent “partner” league similar to the Atlantic League – which is currently at six teams after Sugar Land and Somerset officially became minor-league affiliates earlier this month.
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