As if MLB didn’t have enough to worry about with the lockout, further legal matters await.
Per Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic, four minor league teams have challenged Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption after MLB eliminated their connections to respective MLB Teams. The four teams include the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, Norwich Sea Unicorns, Tri-City ValleyCats, and the Staten Island Yankees.
In Staten Island’s case, the team was the Class A Short Season affiliate of the New York Yankees for over 20 years.
According to Kaplan, the meat of the teams’ case against MLB is as follows:
As for the core issues in the case, titled Nostalgic Partners v Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, the minor-league clubs argue MLB violated antitrust law by conspiring to eliminate their pivotal ties to major league teams.