MadThinker88

http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/affiliate.cgi?year=2016 Yankees are only team with 8 minor league affiliates. Another 9 or so have 7 affiliates. Rest have 6 affiliates. I believe having more affiliates does give those teams a long term competitive edge, but there is nothing in the rules against it. I think the "small market" teams would be wise to get to at least 7 affiliates

Crash, I think your dreaming/ overly optimistic with those 2017 predictions. Earlier in this thread, Bork listed the plus/ minus for the Crews minors over the last 17 years. Only 4 winning seasons. That needs to change. How about a top half finish with a winning record that gets repeated/ improved upon in 2018??? Last time there was back to back winning seasons was 2000 & 2001. I have a sneaky suspicion that DS will be making changes in the player development ranks (managers/ coaches/ coordinators) this off season after seeing how 2016 went.

I realize the metro areas are VERY different and it was raining in Columbus but with the free tickets the Clippers drew between 8500 and 9000 people for each game. Huntington Park holds a liitle over 10k... I was hoping at least 1000 people would be there for the TRats game....

Did anyone else notice the turnout for the playoff game?? Sorry, less than 600 in attendance for game 1 of the playoffs (with capacity over 5k) is sad. I would have said 'embarrassing' if ALL other playoff games netted over 1k in attendance, but there were 2 or 3 other games that didn't crack the barrier..

Considering the contracts coming off the books for the Yankees, I think they should be a target for the Brewers to deal with... They could easily handle the Garza contract and they have a surprising amount of young talent (in majors, high minors and lower minors)...

To get one of the top catching prospects IN ALL OF BASEBALL (ranked that way before the season and now) & top 100 prospect overall, you need to offer much more then ANY of those packages.. Even if the Tribe does not resign Napoli (50/50) or Raji Davis (25/75) they would be regaining Michael Brantley to the lineup mix. There are also a handful of other prospects on the hitting side that should be ready to make an impact. Personally I don't think the organizations match up very well in a 'Mejia' deal unless a 3rd team is in the mix... I've written on this board before that Yandy Diaz and Giovanny Urshela should be targets for the Brewers but the way Diaz played this year, I suspect he will be part of the Tribe roster next season.

Still think Villar should be kept over Scooter... Of the 3, trade/ jettison Scooter

I disagree with people thinking there is no rush to deal Garza and are willing to hold onto him into next year. The issues of 2015 can reappear and then the value he has disappears. It's better to deal Garza during the off season (perhaps during the winter meetings) to get value while you can. I realize it's not the SOP of DS to package his assets together in a trade, but I would be interested to see the package (or single upgraded prospect) that the Crew could get be sending Garza and one of the many OF guys (like Phillps) out together. Wonder if the Yankees would bite and trade off Justus Sheffield & JP Feyerisan for that pairing. Probably just wishful thinking on my part...

Final Update time.. Since this is the last update on the records, I will list out all clubs (1 to 30) and add a few interesting tidbits for the NL Central squads. If I am able to complete some additional research, I will add in the number of playoff qualifiers for each club to the posting at a latter date. So, here you go.. As of end of 9/5/2016 Franchise W L Pct 1 New York Yankees 331 228 0.5921 2 Philadelphia Phillies 330 229 0.5903 3 Seattle Mariners 327 235 0.5819 4 Cleveland Indians 315 250 0.5575 5 Minnesota Twins 304 257 0.5419 6 Houston Astros 296 266 0.5267 7 Los Angeles Dodgers 293 267 0.5232 8 Washington Nationals 293 270 0.5204 9 Chicago Cubs 291 269 0.5196 10 Tampa Bay Rays 288 270 0.5161 11 Texas Rangers 290 272 0.5160 12 Pittsburgh Pirates 287 272 0.5134 13 Boston Red Sox 286 273 0.5116 14 Arizona Diamondbacks 287 275 0.5107 15 Toronto Blue Jays 280 281 0.4991 16 Oakland Athletics 280 281 0.4991 17 Cincinnati Reds 275 286 0.4902 18 New York Mets 274 285 0.4902 19 San Francisco Giants 275 289 0.4876 20 St. Louis Cardinals 271 287 0.4857 21 Colorado Rockies 271 291 0.4822 22 Miami Marlins 265 290 0.4775 23 Detroit Tigers 261 292 0.4720 24 San Diego Padres 262 301 0.4654 25 Atlanta Braves 260 299 0.4651 26 Baltimore Orioles 259 306 0.4584 27 Milwaukee Brewers 250 304 0.4513 28 Los Angeles Angels 246 316 0.4377 29 Kansas City Royals 229 328 0.4111 30 Chicago White Sox 228 335 0.4050 NL Central Clubs (worst affiliate record) 9 Chicago Cubs : Tennessee Smokies (AA) 58-81 12 Pittsburgh Pirates : Indianapolis Indians (AAA) 70-74 17 Cincinnati Reds : Dayton Dragons (Low A) 47-93 20 St. Louis Cardinals : Palm Beach Cardinals (High A) 58-79 27 Milwaukee Brewers : Brevard County (High A) 40-97

Perhaps if the TRats advance, they can revisit the possibility of free admission.. Maybe the Crew can kick some money in to make it worthwhile... Why is free admission that important? The best T-Rat tickets are so cheap and it's still a business, I'm not seeing an affordability issue. In terms of quality (play & game experience) and cost, the Rattlers are the best baseball value in the state. If I wasn't busy with a lame work audit tomorrow I'd be sitting behind home plate with a radar gun myself. Crew07 - I think many people would be interested in going if not for this/ that/ timing/ distance. All those items are understandable reasons for not attending. I also get its a business, but there is more than one way to make the money. The AAA Columbus (OH) Clippers have taken the business approach of offering the free tickets for all playoff games for a handful of reasons. Lets look those over. Reason 1: Thank the fans for their support all season. Reason 2: Try to minimize the cost for people to come out/ eliminate that excuse from people not attending. Reason 3: Fill the park to make a true home field advantage. The more games won by the home team (especially if they have the majority of games scheduled at their place for the series), the better chance the team advances and therefore, plays more games. Reason 4: More butts in seats means more concession sales (beer/ pop/ water/ hot dogs/ souvenirs/ etc). Even being a great value, which do you think generates more revenue for the club - seat sales or concession revenue? I'd go with the concessions. This isn't the 1st time that free seats were offered in the playoffs by the Clippers. They found a good formula that worked for them in the past and they are repeating it in 2016. I have been to games at both places. Both parks are very good. IF the TRats can sell out (or nearly sell out at 90% capacity) then free tickets to draw in fans for the playoffs is not needed. However, if they end up having under 50% capacity for the playoff game, then I would encourage them to consider other options if the team is moving forward in the post-season.

Makes me even more suprised at his selection as PTBNL... Normally clubs want the player under some control and have a little time to evaluate on their own (up close) instead of from a distance...

Perhaps if the TRats advance, they can revisit the possibility of free admission.. Maybe the Crew can kick some money in to make it worthwhile...

I'm curious- is admission free for the playoff game/s??? Columbus, OH (AAA, Cleveland) makes ALL ADMISSION FREE for the post season games. There way to give back to the fans and encourage a large turnout. Didn't hear anything about the TRats & thought it should be asked....

I wonder which pitchers (if any) were on the list for selection. Not a fan of this PTBNL but if he was the best on the list, DS did what he could.

Same swing as Travis Hafner had not sure that is good or bad. Pronk had a handful of very good seasons until injuries caught up with him...

The way he acted and basically accused other's of botching the test he took when caught.. While other players have claimed ignorance as to how they took a banned substance, Braun went after a person...

Lindor has hit much better than expected in the majors. Don't think anyone expected him (or any player) to be 30 points higher in the majors than his/ their minor league line.

Ya, Lamont became the manager but if you watch the highlights you'll see some random guy making changes to the posted lineup card and on the phone for a replay. Seems like one of the other coaches could have handled those duties. Perhaps a trainer was lending a hand...

Much like Lindor last season, Arcia seems to have settled in around the 20 game mark and start moving his numbers up.. If Arcia could be Lindor-lite, he would be a solid ball player.

Would not be so quick to dismiss the non-tender option on Wily.. Many things to look at & consider.. does he have any options remaining after this year (2016)? What is the option picture for others on the 40 man (after this season)? Who still needs to be added to the 40 after this season (protect from Rule 5 draft)? How many spots need to be opened on the 40 man and which spots will those be? What are the rotation options for 2017 and where would they be at (majors/ minors)? Does Wily have any trade value (during the offseason or possibly next season)? Perhaps this will be a fun distraction to work on during the games this afternoon....

should be a fun pitching match up to watch.

Appreciate that MH.. Thanks..

Update time: these only consider the 4 full season affiliate clubs. Thru 8/26/16 "And down the stretch they come...." Franchise W L Pct 1 Seattle Mariners 309 215 0.5897 2 New York Yankees 309 219 0.5852 3 Philadelphia Phillies 304 219 0.5813 4 Cleveland Indians 295 231 0.5608 5 Minnesota Twins 283 241 0.5401 25 Baltimore Orioles 241 283 0.4599 26 Atlanta Braves 239 282 0.4587 27 Milwaukee Brewers 234 283 0.4526 28 Los Angeles Angels 229 294 0.4379 29 Chicago White Sox 216 309 0.4114 30 Kansas City Royals 213 307 0.4096 At this point the main question is can Brevard County (High A for the Crew) avoid a 100 loss season. They stand 38-91 after play on Friday night... Division Rivals 11 Chicago Cubs 269 253 0.5153 (worst affiliate: AA Tennessee Smokies 54-75) 12 Pittsburgh Pirates 268 255 0.5124 (worst affiliate: AAA Indianapolis Indians 64-69) 17 Cincinnati Reds 255 268 0.4876 (worst affiliate: Low A Dayton Dragons 45-86) 21 St. Louis Cardinals 252 269 0.4837 (worst affiliate: High A Palm Bach Cardinals 52-77)

He was clutch for the Tribe bullpen down the stretch in 2013. After Rich Hill bombed as a lefty in the bullpen (yes, the same guy now starting for the Dodgers), Tribe brought in Scrabble and he had a 0.836 WHIP logging 20.1 IP over 27 appearances.

Figured people up in WI knew the relationship between Toledo and Michigan. There was literally a shooting"war" over it and the state border between Ohio and Michigan. Ohio won the war, getting the strip of land & Toledo. Congress gave the Upper Peninsula to Michigan in consolation. Wisconsin, still being a territory at the point, got nothing but lost the U.P. Back on topic: can't see the Phillies departing Lehigh Valley/ Allentown. Even with Reading being their AA club and partially owed by the Phillies, having those clubs very close to the Major League location is desirable for rehab purposes...