Sources tell Baseball America that the MLB and the MiLB are nearing a deal to cut 42 minor league baseball teams. The deal will reduce the number of affiliated teams from 160 to 120, with two independent teams entering affiliated ball.
The MiLB will need to reorganize and relocate a lot of team affiliates and leagues. Four AA teams will be cut, including the Mets affiliate in Binghamton, New York. Four high-A teams will be eliminated, six low-A teams, 11 short-season teams, and 17 rookie ball teams.
Each organization will have four teams in four different levels of minor league ball. It sounds like rookie-ball and A-short season ball will merge into rookie-leagues based at spring training sites. A-short season teams were mainly comprised of recent draft picks, and the season would start in June each year.
Teams eliminated (per Baseball America):
Rookie ball:
Billings Mustangs
Bluefield Blue Jays
Bristol Pirates
Burlington Royals
Danville Braves
Elizabethton Twins
Grand Junction Rockies
Great Falls Voyagers
Greeneville Reds
Idaho Falls Chukars
Johnson City Cardinals
Kingsport Mets
Missoula Osprey
Ogden Raptors
Orem Owlz
Princeton Rays
Rocky Mountain Vibes
A-short:
Auburn Doubledays
Batavia Muckdogs
Connecticut Tigers
Lowell Spinners
Mahoning Valley Scrappers
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
State College Spikes
Staten Island Yankees
Tri-City Dust Devils
Vermont Lake Monsters
Williamsport Crosscutters
Low-A:
Beloit Snappers
Burlington Bees
Clinton LumberKings
Lexington Legends
Hagerstown Suns
West Virginia Power
High-A:
Lancaster JetHawks
Daytona Tortugas
Florida Fire Frogs
Frederick Keys
AA:
Binghamton Rumble Ponies
Chattanooga Lookouts
Erie SeaWolves
Jackson Generals
Teams added:
St. Paul Saints                                                                                                                                              Sugar Land Skeeters
The report doesn’t state which level of ball the two new teams will be at.