Could the Staten Island Yankees be dead by 2021? MLB looks to eliminate 42 minor-league teams.

WASHINGTON D.C. -- As if the United States Congress didn’t have enough to worry about with President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings, more than 100 representatives from across the country are urging Major League Baseball officials to abandon a plan to eliminate 42 minor league teams, including the Staten Island Yankees.

Last month, it was reported on SILive.com and the Staten Island Advance that MLB was going eliminate some lower-level A leagues, including the New York-Penn League which the S.I. Yankees are affiliated, when the current Player Development Contract runs out after the 2020 season.

Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) was one of 102 members from the House of Representatives on Tuesday that want to fight MLB’s plan. Rose, of course, has a special interest in his hometown Staten Island Yankees.

“For 20 years now, the Staten Island Yankees have given us a window into the future,” Rose said. “Dozens of Bronx Bombers got their start at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, signing baseballs for kids along the baselines, running clinics to turn Staten Island little leaguers into the next generation of stars, and bringing new life to the St. George waterfront. These losses won’t show up in whatever formula Major League Baseball used to decide which teams get cut, but they will be devastating for our community, and I hope the league will reconsider.”

Rose and his Congressional colleagues wrote a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, with every team copied, to underscore the damage this move would cause to the communities where the at-risk teams are located.

“The abandonment of Minor League clubs by Major League Baseball would devastate our communities, their bond purchasers, and other stakeholders affected by the potential loss of these clubs,” wrote Rose and his colleagues in a bipartisan letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. “We want you to fully understand the impact this could have not only on the communities we represent, but also on the long-term support that Congress has always afforded our national pastime on a wide variety of legislative initiatives.”

It seems like the U.S. Senate is getting involved in the matter, too, as Sen. Chuck Schumer is planning to hold a conference call Wednesday afternoon regarding the situation it was announced by Schumer’s office late this afternoon.

MLB’s plan comes despite the the fact that Minor League Baseball (MiLB) just completed its 15th consecutive season with an attendance above 40 million; and it was the ninth-largest single season total in MiLB’s 100-plus year history.

Rose reports that many of the Minor League clubs would fail without a Player Development Contract —leaving as many as 1,200 players out of work.

“The plan is a betrayal of the fans, players, municipalities, stadium vendors and employees who have supported these clubs for decades,” the congress wrote to Manfred.

Will Smith, president and operating partner of the Staten Island Yankees, appreciates Rose’s stance on MLB’s plans.

“We greatly appreciate Congressman Rose’s awareness, judgement and support for this letter, greater Staten Island and 41 other valuable communities across America,” said Smith. "I chose to make a career-change 20 years ago and pursue a career in Minor League Baseball because I was aware of the interconnected system of 160 businesses across our country providing opportunities to make a living working in sports.

“Minor League Baseball is the sole reason I found a path in life, and it provides infinite similar paths for fans, baseball players and employees. I hope the volume of these teams and opportunities only increases in the coming years. It’s the American way.”

Smith didn’t reveal much more, but the Staten Island Yankees issued a public statement on social media on Tuesday.

This is what it said:

“Though we cannot officially comment given the fact that negotiations between MLB and MiLB are still at the earliest stages and ongoing, we do want to make it clear that nothing has or will be decided in this process for a very long time. Further to that, as MLB has stated publicly, their main concern(s) are around facility standards, club travel and proximity to an MLB affiliate. Your StI Yanks currently meet MLB’s facility standards, has good travel within the New York-Penn League, and resides in the same city as their MLB affiliate.”

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Cyclones, the New York Mets’ New York-Penn League affiliate, would be among those franchises reassigned to another league, it is being reported.

From the 42 teams that are being dropped, a Dream League of some sort may appear, said an MLB official. It would be a league of undrafted players looking to play professionally, much like the teams in the Independent League. The Dream League teams would be co-owned and operated by M.L.B. and Minor League Baseball. That would be quite different from the current setup in which most teams are independently owned and operated.

MLB is trying cut costs and says there are too many minor league players in the farm systems. Under the new plan, the MLB Draft will also be cut to in half to around 20 rounds and moved back to August from early June.

The lack of compensation for minor league players has been a hot topic in baseball the past few years. Minor leaguers currently live off a stipend each week, which is tough especially for players who didn’t receive big bonuses, usually the ones drafted in the later rounds.

But by eliminating 42 teams, totaling around 1,000 players, there would be more money to pay the minor leaguers, which are expected to get a raise in the coming years. This condensing of teams would free up some money for the big-league clubs.

Also, MLB franchises can concentrate on upgrading certain stadiums, making for a better playing experience for their players.

In 2019, the Staten Island Yankees celebrated their 20th year on the Island after relocating from upstate.

There figures to be some legal ramifications for MLB if the plan goes through.

One major league official last weekend told sportswriter Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, "I don’t see any way we can do something like this. My God, we’ll be sued all over the place from these cities that have built or refurbished ballparks with taxpayer money, and this will really put our anti-trust exemption in jeopardy. It’s crazy.”