Credit: Kirby Lee/AP

For the first time in over a century, the Minor League will be sitting this one out.

Western baseball still hasn’t managed to completely get its act together in the wake of the escalating COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, it was mostly just a matter of back and forth between players and owners, with neither side able to come to a consensus on a middle ground between profit and safety. It seems that, sadly, this indecision has finally brought about a concrete cost.

The Minor League’s president, Pat O’Conner, officially announced yesterday that the entire Minor League season has been scrapped, and for the first time since 1901, there will be no Minor League play.

“These are unprecedented times for our country and our organization as this is the first time in our history that we’ve had a summer without Minor League baseball played,” O’Conner said in a statement. “While this is a sad day for many, this announcement removes the uncertainty surrounding the 2020 season and allows our teams to begin planning for an exciting 2021 season of affordable family entertainment.”

Despite O’Conner’s attempt at an optimistic spin, he isn’t exactly feeling so himself. In a separate statement to Baseball America, O’Conner said that there is a very real possibility that more than half of the Minor League’s teams may be forced to sell, if they don’t fold outright.

“This is the perfect storm. There are many teams that are not liquid, not solvent,” O’Conner said. “I could see this (economic impact) lingering into 2022, 2023 easily. In some cases, possibly a little longer.”

"It’s north of half (of MiLB teams) who could either have to sell (or go insolvent without government or other help). This is the perfect storm. There are many teams that are not liquid, not solvent," O'Conner said.

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) June 30, 2020

With the season delays prior and now its outright cancellation, many minor leaguers are being forced to go without any income whatsoever, which is dangerously debilitating compared to their Major League contemporaries.

“Teams across the country are going 18 months straight without a steady revenue stream,” Chris Phillips, president of the Colorado Rockies’ affiliate Rocky Mountain Vibes, told the Denver Post. “That’s brutal, and in addition to potential contraction you’re going to see a number of teams who wind up folding because they weren’t able to make it financially.”