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While we wait for Major League Baseball and the players union to come up with a deal to cover the resumption of play in 2020, one of the major domino effects is going to be the loss of a traditional minor league season. That will mean the the best prospects might not get many reps this year. One such proposed solution is the expansion of the Arizona Fall League. How this would work is teams would build their own prospect team and play in their Spring Training facilities, with one league for the 16 teams in Arizona and another for the rest of the teams in Florida.
Instead of sending 5-6 prospects to play as part of a team, there is the possibility that we see all 30 MLB clubs build a prospect team and have them compete against the best prospects from other organizations. I like the idea because they’re playing better competition than they would have during a traditional Minor League season and would allow for teams to get better evaluations of every team’s best prospects for future acquisitions or figuring out which prospects to keep.
D-backs All Prospect Team:
Starting Lineup and Rotation
C - Daulton Varsho
1B - Seth Beer
2B - Andy Young
SS - Geraldo Perdomo
3B - Tristin English
LF - Alek Thomas
CF - Corbin Carroll
RF - Kristian Robinson
SP - Matt Tabor, Levi Kelly, J.B. Bukauskas, Luis Frias, Tommy Henry
Other players that could see time here include Blaze Alexander, Pavin Smith, Dominic Fletcher, Ryne Nelson, Drey Jameson, Blake Walston, and even Corbin Martin (for rehab appearances).
This isn’t the first time that the Diamondbacks have bandied that type of idea around. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, there was a game between the top prospect of the Rockies and D-backs scheduled for March 23rd. The idea of an expanded fall league would work out to be mostly the same. The biggest areas of concern are making sure the players don’t catch the virus, get FAIRLY paid for their participation, and dealing with the logistics of hot and/or muggy summer conditions in Arizona and Florida.