Hawk87
05-05-2010, 12:56 AM
While not expanding their schedule past 100 games, could/should/is the GBL surpassing the Northern and AA as the #2 indy league in the country?
MLB names in any indy league are box office gold. Getting your kids to MLB is also huge, but, a bonus. Lima, Irabu, Spezio, Spivey, Fick, Rushford, Gomez, Franklin are names from last year.
The league expanded its salary cap this season I believe. Edmonton and Calgary can/will continue to spend generously on their players. Orange County (and the claimed Palm Springs market) can continue to collect former MLB'ers in SoCal. It's a decent bus league, beside the three Canadian teams and Hawaii. Shouldn't Maui become the team players most would like to play for????
"Son, you've been traded....from San Angelo to Maui...for nothing but some postage stamps...everybody wins"
The GBL is nowhere near the stability that the Atlantic League must have to be able to play damn near 140 games. But, I think aging free-agents are a reality in a newly frugal financial environment at the MLB level. And these free-agents might choose the shorter season, warmer weather of the GBL increasingly in the future.
I think the GBL, if they can succeed in some of these expansion markets they've come to (Tijuana, Hawaii, Victoria/Tucson) and keep smaller clubs functioning (Yuma and St. George), could solidify into a great league over the next 5 years.
MLB names in any indy league are box office gold. Getting your kids to MLB is also huge, but, a bonus. Lima, Irabu, Spezio, Spivey, Fick, Rushford, Gomez, Franklin are names from last year.
The league expanded its salary cap this season I believe. Edmonton and Calgary can/will continue to spend generously on their players. Orange County (and the claimed Palm Springs market) can continue to collect former MLB'ers in SoCal. It's a decent bus league, beside the three Canadian teams and Hawaii. Shouldn't Maui become the team players most would like to play for????
"Son, you've been traded....from San Angelo to Maui...for nothing but some postage stamps...everybody wins"
The GBL is nowhere near the stability that the Atlantic League must have to be able to play damn near 140 games. But, I think aging free-agents are a reality in a newly frugal financial environment at the MLB level. And these free-agents might choose the shorter season, warmer weather of the GBL increasingly in the future.
I think the GBL, if they can succeed in some of these expansion markets they've come to (Tijuana, Hawaii, Victoria/Tucson) and keep smaller clubs functioning (Yuma and St. George), could solidify into a great league over the next 5 years.