Minor league lawsuit

[Snapolit1]

(December 20, 2021, 11:30 AM EST) -- Major League Baseball and its franchises illegally conspired to scrap 40 minor league clubs, according to a lawsuit Monday that aims to end the baseball antitrust exemption granted by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1922.

Four minor league clubs filed suit in Manhattan federal court challenging the MLB's controversial 2019 decision to contract the minor league system from 160 teams to 120. The teams — former affiliates of the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers — said this was a horizontal agreement between the MLB and its 30 franchises that violates the Sherman Act.

For nearly 100 years, the Supreme Court's decision in Federal Baseball Club v. National League has shielded MLB from Sherman Act claims. But the minor league teams said that the high court's June ruling in NCAA v. Alston, which found that the NCAA is not exempt from antitrust scrutiny, has cleared the way for the justices to eliminate baseball's own antitrust carveout.

"The time is at hand to cast the baseball exemption into the dustbin of antitrust history," wrote the minor league clubs in Monday's complaint.

In a Monday interview with Law360, the team's lawyers from Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and Berg & Androphy said they will quickly try to kick the case up to the high court.

"Baseball should be put on the same footing as all the other major sports and should have to deal with the ins and outs of the competition laws of the United States," said Berg & Androphy's Jim Quinn.

[John1941]

Well, I'm rooting for the minor leagues to become independent again, and this is a step in making it possible.

I'm in speech and debate, and I'm actually writing a speech about why the minor leagues should be independent.

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by John1941

Well, I'm rooting for the minor leagues to become independent again, and this is a step in making it possible.

+1 in the biggest possible, total agreement way!

[butchie_t]

It is a travesty frankly what MLB has done to MiLB. The amalgamation of AAA killed the once proud history of the PCL, smaller markets that hosted low A teams and AA teams were decimated because of how MLB raped the minor league baseball system.

It all comes down to business and I hope the lawsuit gives MLB the business here.

[mrreality68]

I hope that the minor leaguers win and I hope that those communities lost their minor league teams get them back.
Sadly it is more about economics and less about Anti Trust (especially since they still over over 120 affiliated with MLB) and that there are so many independent leagues with independent teams.
Sadly economics plays a big part and MLB determined that they do not need 160 clubs worth of players to field all the MLB teams. So they made the changes they deemed necessary.
And it is the right of the minor league teams to react as they do. Some Go the legal route others find ways to re-use/repurpose their stadiums, others try to align with another "independent league" and others fold.
So good for them for trying the Legal way and lets see how it plays out and hopefully those other communities get a team back.

[Den*nis O*Brien]

There was a book published in 1995 entitled "Wild And Outside" by Stefan Fatsis ...Subtitled "how a renegade Minor League Revived the Spirit of Baseball in America's Heartland". The book delves into this subject of how the independent Northern league battled MLB. Anyone who is passionate about the hometown minors will find this an interesting read IMHO.
We lost our Minor League team in Wausau Wisconsin who played at historical and beautiful Athletic Park which is located i/2 block from Cub great Johnny Schmitz's life time home. but the city fathers were smart enough to fill the void with the Wausau Woodchucks a college summer league team. But a long history of A ball was cast into the dust bin. So many towns in Wisconsin lost in this struggle. Below is a link to the front of Athletic Park.

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1...9gLRX9WR&hl=en