Five major shakeups that could be coming to the minor leagues in 2021

Major League Baseball shocked the baseball world last October when its intention to scale back and reorganize the minor leagues was first reported.

MLB made clear it did not want to maintain the century-old status quo that allowed individual minor leagues to define their own geographical footprints or dictate terms of affiliation agreements with major league organizations. MLB wanted minor leagues affiliations that were more permanent, that made greater geographical sense, that were more cost efficient and that had higher facility standards.

And MLB wanted fewer minor league affiliates overall.