One Less Complex League Team in 2023?

[Mass Haas]

 

[CheeseheadInQC]

Unfortunate, but not terribly surprising.  The biggest current impact might be on the glut of infielders in the lowers levels.

[SF70]

Disappointing. This is going to keep some deserving stateside play held back in the DSL.

[Joseph Zarr]

Let's make a run for that coveted ACL championship babayyyyy! From a competitive standpoint, this will make a difference - there were several times last season we brought up the: "Man, if we combined the talent we'd probably be in the top 3 overall." But, as @CheeseheadInQC says above, this will impact the overall opportunities for the increasing wealth of talent we are seeing in the lowest levels of Brewers ball. 

My general thinking, given this development, is they might be prioritizing only the most advanced of DSL players - limiting overall opportunities but increasing validating criteria and further emphasizing the importance of the facilities and staffs 'South of the Border', so to speak - and, it also may hint at their continued emphasis on their juggernaut work in the Indy Ball circuits. Perhaps, continuing to use the ACL as a means of incubating faster promotions for these players and new draftees. I was quite impressed by the output I saw last season (on paper) from both the Indy signings and the 2022 draftees.

[clancyphile]

Not sure I like seeing them cut from two to one. If the Crew is going to be dealing players like Burnes, Woodruff, and Adames, they need to be able to evaluate more players.

I'd even go so far as to try and get another full-season A team (maybe in Charleston) as well. If they can't generate big contracts, put money into developing as many players as possible.

[Robocaller]

I disapprove.

 

[Mass Haas]

We’ll have to wait and see, this is a valid point but the BrewersPD tweet didn’t specify a “Gold” and “Blue” team.

 

[Mass Haas]

9 hours ago, clancyphile said:

I'd even go so far as to try and get another full-season A team (maybe in Charleston) as well. If they can't generate big contracts, put money into developing as many players as possible.

All the full-season leagues are locked after the elimination of Rookie Advanced leagues. Each MLB club gets one affiliate each at AAA, AA, High-A and A. There’s no room for your hopeful plan.

[MadThinker88]

On 2/3/2023 at 5:02 AM, Mass Haas said:

All the full-season leagues are locked after the elimination of Rookie Advanced leagues. Each MLB club gets one affiliate each at AAA, AA, High-A and A. There’s no room for your hopeful plan.

I was about to reply with the same message.

To be honest I am surprised ANY club was allowed more than 1 complex level team last year.  MKE was 1 of a handful of teams with 2 complex level teams.  The way the contraction was communicated and the stateside team development player limit was explained, it was to put all clubs on equal footing.  How some clubs got to have more players/ a 2nd complex team seems inconsistent.

Since the Jacobs brothers (& then the Dolan's) took ownership of the CLE franchise, the one constant was putting money into the farm system.  It was explained as a multiplier effect.  $100k is a drop in the bucket for a paying a MLB salary but the same $100k could pay for multiple milb players & their development over 1 year.  

[nate82]

On 2/4/2023 at 3:44 PM, MadThinker88 said:

To be honest I am surprised ANY club was allowed more than 1 complex level team last year.  MKE was 1 of a handful of teams with 2 complex level teams.  The way the contraction was communicated and the stateside team development player limit was explained, it was to put all clubs on equal footing.  How some clubs got to have more players/ a 2nd complex team seems inconsistent.

The one team per level is only applicable to A-AAA.  The teams can have as many as they want at the complexes and in the DSL. 

[CheeseheadInQC]

18 minutes ago, nate82 said:

The one team per level is only applicable to A-AAA.  The teams can have as many as they want at the complexes and in the DSL. 

Theoretically this might be true, but I think the stateside complex teams also fall under the system player cap, functionally limiting them to two complex league teams.

[nate82]

29 minutes ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

Theoretically this might be true, but I think the stateside complex teams also fall under the system player cap, functionally limiting them to two complex league teams.

Yes there is a player cap which includes the complex leagues.  So max of two with the current cap on how many players can be stateside.  The DSL doesn't count towards a teams minor league roster number. 

[Playing Catch]

This doesn't really bother me at all. There's probably an argument that could be made that skill development at that age trumps the development that comes from playing games.

Spending a couple hours a day in the cage or doing infield practice may be more valuable than playing a game where you get 3 ABs and a couple of chances in the field.

[Mass Haas]

Continuing our initial discussion above within this thread: 

What will be the impact if MKE, SF, SEA, HOU are not going to be allowed to field two stateside complex teams as they did in '22 (Florida for the Astros, Arizona for the others). As of this post, it does not seem MLB will be approving dual squads in 2023, but we shall see.

Specific to the Brewers and MLB rules, organizations must limit the number of players in their stateside system to 180 players in-season (AAA, AA, High-A, A, and Rookie Complex). Dominican Complex players are exempt from this count.

Note: while not confirmed, it would seem likely that placing a minor league player on one of the extended injured list designations would free up a spot, similar to the 60-day injured list on the MLB level.

However, the count is allowed to be 190 players during the offseason. If you add up all the players listed on the MiLB roster pages for the Brewers at those levels, it currently sits exactly at 190 (no, did not count restricted list RHP Ray Black, nor naturally, players on the team's 40-man who have already been optioned). Unlike some organizations who are in the 160-170 range, Milwaukee does push the upper limits of retention, which is fine. Get eyes on as many players as possible, unearth and develop gems within.

Current as of 3/19:

• Nashville 32
• Biloxi 28
• Wisconsin 33
• Carolina 37
• Maryvale Gold 27
• Maryvale Blue 33

As noted, the Brewers can seemingly pack their complex league rosters, and boy, have they done so. Let's compare with their chief MLB rival in St. Louis.

The Cardinals currently have 46 players on their one (crowded as of now) Florida Complex League roster, compared to 60 combined on the Brewers' two Maryvale rosters. Remember, those players count towards the 180/190 stateside limits.

St. Louis also takes a minimalist approach in the Dominican, one of only a few organizations fielding only one team there in 2022. Their current DSL roster is bloated for just one squad at 41 currently. Compare that to the 72 DSL Brewers currently listed on the DSL Brewers 1 and DSL Brewers 2 teams.

But here's a kicker for the Brewers (and we imagine all organizations), the 29 signees announced on the international signing day back in January have yet to be placed on a DSL Brewers roster. Suddenly the DSL number goes from 72 to 101 (!). Third DSL team, anyone? Yeah, that's not happening.

Nobody is rooting for player releases, it's one reason we at BrewerFanatic have always made especially sure to acknowledge the accomplishments of those who are let go, no matter how minimal or non-descript the numbers may have been. Hey, they are professional ballplayers, we here at the keyboard were not...

But boy, this looks as though it's going to be a seismic release season in setting up rosters for the full-season clubs in April, and then again in setting up the complex teams in June.

The fact that the Brewers have 60 players currently listed as "Maryvale" with not much room for current promotion at Carolina and Wisconsin is one issue. But if MLB does not allow for a 2nd Maryvale team to compete, the crowd at that level is exasperated even before one accounts for the mass of players potentially needed to come stateside from the Dominican League.

Once the full-season teams break camp and rosters are set in April, it's going to be a wild two-month scramble of Arizona complex competition to see who maintains spots in the organization in June.

The dynamic completely changes if Milwaukee is allowed to field a second team in Arizona. If not allowed, watch out.

[MadThinker88]

Good post & explanations there Mass Haas, 

Nice Job

[MrTPlush]

On 2/2/2023 at 6:14 PM, clancyphile said:

Not sure I like seeing them cut from two to one. If the Crew is going to be dealing players like Burnes, Woodruff, and Adames, they need to be able to evaluate more players.

If they trade those guys. Rookie level Arizona guys really aren't going to be the focus of return. Even if we do get a few...it is a few. Not a massive roster crunch.