Rose Announces Formation of the Bipartisan Save Minor League Baseball Task Force

Statement

Congressman Max Rose joined Representatives Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), David McKinley (R-W. Va.), and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) in announcing the official formation of the bipartisan Save Minor League Baseball Task Force yesterday. At the group's inaugural meeting, Members of Congress met with Minor League Baseball (MiLB) President Pat O'Conner, Vice President Stan Brand, and several Minor League team owners. The group discussed strategy to continue the momentum on this urgent issue.

"Major League Baseball can look at all the "sabermetrics' it wants, but what they don't understand is the serious impact that losing these baseball teams will have on our communities," Rose said. "You won't see it in any formula, but my colleagues and I have all seen the impact teams like the Staten Island Yankees can have on the faces of the children who show up at the ballpark every year. I'm proud to join this effort to urge the MLB to reconsider."

The Save Minor League Baseball Task Force will advocate on behalf of the communities that stand to be most harmed by MLB's plan to eliminate 42 minor league franchises--including the Staten Island Yankees. They will closely monitor ongoing negotiations between MLB and MiLB as well as discuss potential legislative action if and when such a remedy becomes necessary.

"I am proud to launch this important Task Force with my Co-Chairs; Representatives McKinley, Rose, and Simpson," Trahan said. Together along with our colleagues we will make perfectly clear that Congress is ready to defend our communities, which stand to lose out in MLB's proposal to slash the number of Minor League teams. The Lowell Spinners and other minor league teams across the United States provide critical economic and cultural benefits to the communities they call home, and Congress must have a voice in this conversation."

"Baseball is America's pastime, and minor league teams have a major impact on small communities across our country," McKinley said. "While we understand the MLB has concerns: the idea that doing away with 42 teams is the only solution is not reasonable. We look forward to working with MiLB and MLB to find a compromise that will preserve affiliated baseball in these cities."

"Baseball is America's pastime and that pastime should not be exclusive to a select number of cities," Simpson said. "Minor league baseball is at the heart of many small and rural cities in our country. To deprive those communities of baseball would not only deny them access to our national heritage, but it would also harm local economies that depend on minor league baseball organizations. I am proud to join my colleagues in starting this task force to ensure baseball stays vibrant in communities like Idaho Falls and Boise."

"Minor League Baseball values the support of Representatives Trahan, McKinley, Rose and Simpson and the entire Task Force for America's pastime and for recognizing our positive contributions to their communities and local economies as well as dozens of others across the country. While it is our hope to negotiate a fair agreement with MLB, the overwhelming support from elected officials on both sides of the aisle, at all levels of government, has been tremendous and shows that baseball helps to unite our nation," a statement from MiLB.

The formation of this task force follows a bipartisan Rose-backed effort last month with 102 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives urging Major League Baseball (MLB) to abandon its plan to eliminate 42 Minor League teams, including the Staten Island Yankees. This effort follows recent reporting by the Staten Island Advance, New York Times, and others that the MLB's proposal would disband short-season leagues like the New York-Penn League in which the Staten Island Yankees play, eliminating 42 affiliated teams in total and would shrink the number of affiliated minor league teams by 25 percent.