Changes brewing in the minors

It's an annual tradition, just like Brett Favre's incessant summer indecision (he's changed his mind twice in the time it's taken me to type this sentence).

Changes in minor league baseball are an offseason regularity. Old stadiums get older, new stadiums are built, MLB teams change agreements, and minor league franchises move around like Reggie Sanders in his prime. (I may be generous to say Reggie had a 'prime'. And you know he's still playing somewhere, for one of those indy teams with some crazy name like the Omaha Mutuals or the Rockford Forest Citys.)

Most people don't follow the twists and turns of the minor league offseason soap opera. And I'll admit, I didn't either. That was, until the GABA dream started sprouting legs for 2010. Suddenly I'm following a whole new plotline of the baseball story.

Example: The Bakersfield Blaze have already announced they're leaving... not just the city; they're ditching the state and the entire California League. The Blaze franchise is moving cross-country to play '10 as a member of the Carolina League. (Note to Blaze staff that are making the move: prepare to replace your tofu with mustard-based barbecue. LOTS of barbecue.)

Big deal, you say. Franchises move all the time. But (see Brewers, 1998, and Jose Hernandez below) additions have to be made in pairs, because after all these years, it still takes two teams to play a baseball game. (A 9-team Carolina League leaves somebody watching from the bleachers every night.)

That means someone else has to move east with the Blaze. Another California League team has to uproot and take the longest drive across I-40. That means another sprawling Cali suburb is gonna lose its ball team. Rumors have it as the High Desert Mavericks. I'll avoid all the jokes that are coming to mind right now.

I'm also wondering where these teams will land in the Carolinas, mostly because that means changing two push-pins on the giant GABA strategy map. I'm guessing Columbia SC and Fayetteville NC, but then again, I'm new to this minor league relocation thing.

I'd say Richmond would make a great destination for one of the Cali teams, but Richmond was a AAA city all these years, and the AA Eastern League has promised Richmond a franchise for '10. All signs point to the Connecticut Defenders fleeing New England clam chowder for Southern sweet tea next year.

The Midwest League is going all Napoleon, annexing the Bowling Green KY and Eastlake OH franchises from the Sally League. Let me repeat that... there were South Atlantic League franchises in Kentucky and Ohio. On the logical scale, this one ranks right up there with finally getting the Braves and Reds out of the N.L. West when MLB went to three divisions. Thank you, Midwest League.

And the Las Vegas 51s are getting a new name next year. Ownership apparently isn't a big fan of the extra-terrestrial references, although I'm fascinated by the thought of E.T. floating around to greet kids who were born 20 years after the E.T. movie came out. Credit one of my co-workers for a great solution to this one - he wants to call them the Las Vegas 21s, as in the winning blackjack hand. The team logo could be an ace and a jack. The marketing possibilities are endless!

I'm sure we'll have more trading places in the minor league ranks in the months to come. And each one will change the path of the 2010 GABA.

It's a fun way to pass the time waiting for Doug Davis between pitches.