I had an article in progress about the structure and schedule of the Cardinals’ full season affiliates that I planned to launch when spring training came to an end. But we received a last-minute report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan that requires an immediate announcement.
The Triple-A season was scheduled to start on April 6 and end on September 19. The Memphis Redbirds released its schedule the day after pitchers and catchers reported on spring training for the major league. The schedule for all the other clubs in the full season with a lower ranking was structured in an identical way and expected the season to start on May 4 and also end on September 19. The AAA season is now being postponed closer to the time when the lower ranking seasons will begin.
This season’s COVID protocols allowed only a maximum of 75 players to report to spring training in the major league. With the AAA season starting on time, and the secondary league camp not even starting until the end of the major league camp, the AAA squad on the opening day would consist entirely of players who were invited to spring training. Players not on the AAA list would be left behind in extended spring training or at the secondary league camp for another 30 days or more of work before being assigned to a different club.
Because there will be no secondary league clubs that will have an active squad when the major league camp is disrupted, this poses a problem. Where will major league clubs send players who are signed and other players who should join the AAA club to start the minor league season?
The answer is that we will return to the Alternative Training Venue structure that was in place last season, although the parameters are different. Last season, major league clubs were forced to compile a pool of players from the club’s 60 players. Only players in the Pool could participate in a major league game. Players in the Pool who were not in the main league active roster were assigned to what was called the Alternative Training Site. The various sites were located close to the parks of the homes of the major league clubs for easy access. With limited pool space, most clubs, including Cards, have adopted a mixed approach with two types of guest players. In a group, there were players of 40 players and other players who were not on the list, who could help the club immediately if necessary. The other group consisted of potential players in the minor leagues that the club wanted to follow closely for fear that these players would miss a season of development.
The return to the structure of an alternative training site to start the 2020 season was not unexpected, as it was listed as a possibility in the new Operations Manual that was distributed to teams in early February. A major concern that motivated the change is that the major league players and the players who will be part of the opening day squad have severe restrictions in terms of contact with the outside world. But AAA clubs fly commercially for travel, instead of buses or charter flights. The thought seems to be that the delay will allow more vaccinations and make the trip safer.
As this news was just released earlier this evening, we have no information on how the Alternative Card Training Site will be structured. Last season, the Cards hosted the site in Springfield, Missouri, the home of its AA affiliate, not only because the Cards owned the club and the facilities, but because of its proximity to Busch Stadium. I am not aware of any numerical restrictions in effect on the Alternative Site. It seems that for now, as soon as the major league camp is disrupted, there will be two training areas. One is the secondary league camp, or extended spring training in Jupiter, Florida, as planned. The second will be the Alternative Training Site, which can be based in Springfield again.
Cards will have to answer some interesting staff questions in the coming weeks. With no Club Player Pool or numerical limit for the Alternate Training Site, you can expect the Site to include players ready for the major league that Cards may want to call at any time. But what about the rest of the players? Can we expect the Site to be an audition for the AAA Memphis list composed in part by the AAA technical team? In addition to finding out who is on the opening day list, it will be interesting to see how the Cards decide to allocate their players between the Alternate Training Site and the secondary league field.
UPDATE
The Memphis Redbirds tweeted that the new provisional start date for AAA is May 4, just like with the other full season affiliates.
BREAKING: Major League Baseball has announced that the start of the Memphis Redbirds and Triple-A season will be postponed. The new provisional start date for the season is May 4th vs. Durham. More details about Opeing Day and information about 2021 tickets will be released later. pic.twitter.com/fJpFDf2I1R
– Memphis Redbirds (@memphisredbirds) March 3, 2021
While it is theoretically possible that the AAA-East schedule could be extended just beyond the September 19 end date, the games that were scheduled for April will not be rescheduled, and the season will be shortened to 120 games.
In addition, JJ Cooper, an indispensable writer in the minor league of Baseball America, tweeted about this development, and said two interesting things worth noting. First, according to some AAA clubs he spoke with, clubs were not necessarily dissatisfied with this development because clubs will lose money having to host fans with insufficient capacity. Second, he wrote that this Alternative Training Site development would almost certainly happen because the major league clubs would not risk their season by summoning an unvaccinated AAA player who had just flown on commercial airplanes.