A Sign of the Times: St. Paul Saints Join the Twins Organization

The official announcement has not yet been made, but for all intents and purposes, the St. Paul Saints are no longer operating as an independent (unaffiliated is my preferred nomenclature for the teams and leagues not associated with Major League Baseball, but either term works just fine) baseball club.

Numerous reports have surfaced that the Saints have agreed to become the AAA-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. It's a move that makes a lot of sense, for both the Twins and the Saints. All the same, it is a move that should cause every fan of baseball to take pause.

Yes, this move is beneficial to the Twins and will result in a financial windfall for the Saints. Those are not up for debate, from anyone. That both teams will benefit does not mean that this is a franchise move that will ultimately be good for baseball. It will be a boon to MLB, but contrary to what MLB wants everyone to think, they are not all there is to the professional baseball landscape.

What this move does solidify is that MLB is trying to form a professional baseball hegemony and even the most profitable and best-run unaffiliated club in America was not immune to what MLB wants to accomplish.

The Saints are not the first unaffiliated team to leave for affiliated ball and they probably won't be the last. This year alone the Sugar Land Skeeters and Somerset Patriots also made the same switch, while the Frontier League, American Association, and Atlantic League have entered into partnership agreements with MLB that make their very existence as unaffiliated baseball leagues questionable. This all points to where professional baseball is headed in America, complete and utter ownership by MLB.

There are various factors that cause one's stomach to churn when thinking of the Saints' decision. The Saints' own rhetoric is what comes to mind first. Unlike the Skeeters and Patriots, the Saints tackled the idea of entering affiliated ball head-on. When first confronted with the idea Saints ownership, executives, and social media all pushed back.

They made various claims about being "indie for life" and boasted plenty about St. Paul's proud independent tradition. Such push back makes their capitulation to the whims of MLB all the harder to swallow. How can independent baseball ever succeed if its champion was so easily vanquished?

For any fan of unaffiliated baseball, the Saints' decision would have them wondering what this means for the future of the leagues they love? This is a storied independent franchise we are talking about. The Saints had built up an infrastructure that made all other indie league teams jealous. They had top-notch video production, offered live streams of their games that easily beat out the capabilities and offers of any other indie franchise, and regularly sold out CHS Field and its 7,210 seats.

The Saints were the independent baseball franchise that every other indie baseball team emulated. Now, they are gone, and not only do the remaining independent teams have to contend with the loss of the Saints' larger than life presence but what the Saints leaving likely means for the future of the American professional baseball landscape.

The future of unaffiliated baseball in America is at its bleakest state since the 1980s. In fact, a 1980s landscape where there are no unaffiliated leagues in America seems to be where the pendulum is swinging. Only, this time there may be no way for any unaffiliated league to claw its way back into a fruitful existence. After all, as has been proven with the Saints; even if an unaffiliated team becomes massively successful that just means they are ripe for MLB to pick away whenever they see fit.

An American baseball future without unaffiliated baseball is looming on the horizon. Sad as it may be to recognize, the St. Paul Saints are helping to bring about the destruction of what made them special. With the Saints gone, unaffiliated baseball in America will never be the same and likely will never recover. It is a sad era for baseball, perhaps the saddest in a long time.