Offishial news, 11/4/20: Marlins farm system changes; Gold Glove snubs

MiLB realignment buzz

Kevin Reichard of Ballpark Digest reports that upper-level Minor League Baseball affiliations will be relatively unchanged by the new professional baseball agreement that takes effect in 2021. One notable exception? The Marlins (emphasis mine):

Three Triple-A teams—San Antonio, Fresno and Wichita—have been designated to move from Triple-A to Double-A’s Texas League or (in the case of Fresno) to what will be the Low-A Cal League. Taking their place: St. Paul, where the Minnesota Twins could affiliate with the St. Paul Saints; Sugar Land and Jacksonville, which will become the Miami Marlins’ top affiliate. Miami is one of the winners in the realignment, with a Triple-A affiliate just up the coast and the addition of Pensacola as a Double-A affiliate.

Jacksonville has been the Marlins’ Double-A club since 2009 (previously known as the Jacksonville Suns and now named the Jumbo Shrimp). Their home attendance has averaged approximately 5,000 fans per game in recent seasons, the second-largest turnout in the Southern League trailing only Birmingham. This is not the first time that Jacksonville has been considered for a move up to Triple-A.

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos were a Twins affiliate in 2019, but spent most of the last decade developing Reds players.

Combining Jacksonville and Pensacola with Class A Advanced Jupiter, the Marlins would have at least their top three affiliates within the state of Florida. Also, it’s expected that the Fish will part ways with Clinton (Class A) and Batavia (Short Season A) in favor of a more convenient location.

These potential changes—Reichard reiterates that “nothing is finalized” yet—were previously reported by Craig Mish two weeks ago.

Walk-off links

• Outfielder Lewis Brinson spent his Election Day volunteering at the polls. So did many Marlins employees, who received a paid day off from the organization to cast their votes and help others do the same.
• Brian Anderson (3B) and Miguel Rojas (SS) finished in third place among National League qualifiers at their respective positions this season in SABR Defensive Index. The Gold Glove award winners were determined entirely by SDI.
• Juan Páez looks at what went wrong for Corey Dickerson in 2020.

• Why the Marlins’ general manager job opening is more desirable than the Angels’ but not as much as the Phillies’ one, Mike Axisa of CBS Sports explains.
• Get caught up on our All-Time Marlins Countdown. New players featured seven days a week throughout the offseason!
• Win a Starbucks gift card next week just for sharing your Marlins fan perspective.
• Happy birthday to catcher Chad Wallach, who turns 29 today.