Colorado Rockies: MiLB “ready to agree” to cut around 40 minor league teams

There hasn’t been much news lately in baseball but there is some big news that will likely develop this week, with a huge impact on the Colorado Rockies and the Mountain Time Zone.

J.J. Cooper of Baseball America reported on Tuesday morning that Minor League Baseball will be on a teleconference on Wednesday and during it, MiLB will indicate that they will cut down to 120 teams, as MLB wanted. Of the roughly 40 teams that will be cut, it would be a huge cut to Colorado Rockies farm teams and teams in the Mountain Time Zone.

As a part of the proposal that was discussed a few months ago, the entire Pioneer League would likely be cut due to “inadequate” playing and training facilities. The entire Pioneer League resides in the Mountain Time Zone and it includes the Grand Junction Rockies, which has been one of the Rockies’ rookie-level affiliates since 2012.

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If the Pioneer League were to be dissolved, it would cut the number of minor league and major league teams in the Mountain Time Zone from 13 to five, including the Rockies.

The remaining minor teams in the Mountain Time Zone would be the Boise Hawks (Rookie-level Rockies affiliate), the Salt Lake Bees (Triple-A affiliate of the Angels), the Albuquerque Isotopes (Triple-A affiliate of the Rockies), and the El Paso Chihuahuas (Triple-A affiliate of the Padres).

In addition, another one of the teams that will likely be on the chopping block is the Lancaster JetHawks, which has been the Rockies’ affiliate in the California League since 2017. The California League plays at an Advanced Single-A level.

With cutting down to 120 minor league teams, it would likely mean that each of the 30 MLB teams would get four minor league affiliates, one each in Triple-A, Double-A, Single-A, and rookie-ball level. In the 2019 season, the Rockies had eight teams between those leagues and the foreign rookie levels.

More will likely develop out of the teleconference on Wednesday so stay tuned here to Rox Pile as we will have the news as it breaks.

UPDATE (2:10 PM M.T.) Minor League Baseball made an announcement regarding the Baseball America article and they said that the report is “largely inaccurate.” However, they did acknowledge that they will be negotiating with Major League Baseball on Wednesday.