Minor-league teams will play as scheduled, but MLB lockout will impact those games
Yes, professional baseball will be played starting next month regardless of the Major League Baseball lockout.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced Tuesday the first two series of the 2022 season would not be played after talks regarding a new collective bargaining agreement with the union fell through.
Shortly after that, two Royals minor-league affiliates emphasized their games would be played regardless of the ongoing MLB lockout.
“The Omaha Storm Chasers and the rest of Minor League Baseball remain poised for a full 2022 season, unaffected by the current MLB lockout and cancellation of MLB games,” the Royals’ Triple-A team wrote on Twitter.
Class AA Northwest Arkansas shared a similar message.
Dayton Moore, the Royals’ President of Baseball Operations, is happy the minor-league games will continue, but he emphasized the importance of those players tuning out what’s happening with the MLB lockout.
“When you pursue this game the way our players do, you want as few distractions as possible,” Moore said Wednesday in a news conference. “You want them to just focus every single day on developing their skills at a level that are going to allow them to make it to the major leagues. be relentless about the fundamentals of the game, which is going to keep them in the major leagues.
“And so, you know, our our goal, our challenge is just to make sure that they stay focused on just that and not be consumed with some of the noise that’s out there.”
The lockout’s effect
The Triple-A regular season starts April 5, while Double-A and Class A begin April 8.
Although the games will be played as usual, there will be a significant change. Players on each major-league team’s 40-man roster are barred from any contact with the big-league club.
As Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser noted, more than a quarter of all MLB “40-man rosters are prospects, so they won’t be able to play in the minors as long as the lockout remains in effect.”
For the Royals, that means first baseman Nick Pratto, catcher MJ Melendez, pitcher Jonathan Bowlan and outfielder Kyle Isbel can’t play. All four are on MLB.com’s list of the Royals’ top 10 prospects.
On the plus side, Bobby Witt Jr., the Royals’ top prospect, is not on the 40-man roster and should start the season at Omaha.
Moore acknowledged there will be a different feel for the minor-league players and the Royals staff with the lockout in effect. Currently those players and staff are in Surprise, Arizona at the Royals spring complex.
“We’ve got to adapt and we have to adjust and that’s what we’re responsible for and we’re not going to complain,” Moore said. “We’re not going to make excuses we’re just gonna move forward under the circumstances that we currently are working under and just stay really, really focused on what we’re doing with our minor-league players and developing staff.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 12:07 PM.
