Well, sort of. They are still there, they just won't be the Pirates' affiliate anymore. The Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds have agreed to swap their High-A teams. This means the Reds will move into Lynchburg, and the Pirates will now have their High-A team in Bradenton and will play in the Florida State League.
The move makes some sense for the Pirates as their Bradenton team will have full access to McKechnie Field [pic] and Pirate City [pic]. Both of those are enormous upgrades from the Hillcats' facility in Lynchburg [pic].
However, let me say this. I think this move sucks. At least for us fans. The Carolina League is about as neutral a league there is in the minors. Numbers put up by players aren't skewed in any way. But in the Florida State League, it is hard to figure out what a players numbers really mean. The ball just doesn't carry there. Pitchers numbers are skewed to make pitchers look better than they really are and hitting numbers are skewed to make hitters look like they are worse than they really are. It just makes things tougher for guys like me who really try to evaluate our prospects.
Another thing that I don't like about this move is that we can't enjoy anymore excellent coverage from Tim over at BuccoFans.com on the Hillcats and our prospects there. The stuff he did when they were in the playoffs this year and throughout the regular season were awesome. And now our players won't be close by.
Also, I wasn't really expecting a move like this to be done until after the 2010 season because of the Pirates' contract with the Hillcats, but it looks like the Pirates' last year in Lynchburg was 2009.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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