Changes are in store for Minor League Baseball in the 2021 season.

The relationship between Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB) was controlled by a contract that was scheduled to expire following this past season.

Minor league players have rallied to fight against their pay. They argue that when one includes the time they are mandated to be at the ballpark, and the time the teams require they put in on their own, their pay is below the federal minimum wage requirements.

They began this fight before COVID-19, and were getting closer to their goal than ever before, as MLB was going to have to hand over more money - a lot more money - to minor league players.

Baseball’s solution was with the amount of money per player going up, it could basically hold the line on overall costs if they had less players to pay.

What Major League leadership decided was that it wasn’t necessary to have as many minor league teams.

Most major league teams had six minor league teams affiliated with them and some, including the Phillies, had seven. Philadelphia had teams at the Triple-A (Lehigh Valley), Double-A (Reading), High-A (Clearwater), two at Low-A (Lakewood and Williamsport) and two at the rookie level, both in the short-season Gulf Coast League.

From the beginning, Williamsport and the two Gulf Coast League teams were on the chopping block because the plan was to eliminate the short-season leagues. Lakewood was in some peril, but Clearwater, Reading and Lehigh Valley, along with their affiliation with the Phillies, were never in jeopardy.

Clearwater is the longtime home of the Phillies spring training site and so the Clearwater Threshers were going to be sticking around in some way or another. In the end, they wound up dropping from High-A to Low-A, which in some ways makes sense.

Philadelphia can have young players work with their player development staff in Clearwater and add them to the Threshers roster as they deem them ready to play at that level, or keep them on the field working on their skills.

Reading and Lehigh Valley both met the criteria that MLB leadership said was necessary for teams to stay, primarily strong attendance and high-quality facilities for developing players.

Lehigh Valley is consistently among the minor league leaders in attendance, and seemingly every marketing ploy they roll out is a winner. Their logos, no matter how many of them they put out there, are all fan favorites and jerseys and hats fly off the shelf. With money as a factor, Lehigh Valley wasn’t going anywhere. In fact, the agreement between the Phillies and IronPigs was recently extended through 2030 because the affiliation has worked out so well for both sides.

The changes in Minor League Baseball won’t really affect the IronPigs or the Reading Fightins at all. Lakewood, now rebranded to become the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, is now the High-A affiliate for the Phillies, which means that players moving up through the system will have a shorter trip to go from Lakewood, New Jersey to Reading rather than having to fly from Clearwater, Florida which also shaves a little cost from the books.

As for Williamsport, one had to figure MLB was going to do something after baseball dumped millions of dollars in the ballpark so it could host one major league game a season during the Little League World Series, which is also held in Williamsport. It’s an effort by baseball to reach out to a younger audience.

The Williamsport Crosscutters will now become one of six inaugural members of the MLB Draft League. The Draft league will be home to players who are eligible for the July draft and will compete in a 68-game season. It’s a showcase for players to perform in front of major league scouts and front office members.

The inaugural season will have teams in Frederick, Maryland, Niles, Ohio, State College, Trenton, New Jersey, Granville, West Virginia and Williamsport.

It’s possible that more teams will be added for subsequent seasons.

Locally, fans won’t notice much of a change in minor league baseball. Once we’re all allowed back into ballparks, the IronPigs will be among the top draws in baseball, with tons of fans locally and across the nation wearing their gear.

Lehigh Valley and Reading never had to worry throughout the process and are both - by all standards - deserving of continuing in their normal fashion.