While the first full week of 2022 remains light on the type of transactional news baseball fans are usually accustomed, there has been no shortage of big news on deals of a different kind. There’s potential for that trend to continue, as Michael Silverman of the Boston Globe reports the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate, the Worcester Red Sox, is being eyed as an acquisition target by sports and entertainment company Endeavor. The Beverly Hills-based company is no stranger to minor league acquisitions, having scooped up ten minor league affiliates at the end of last year. Silverman notes that a $50MM bid by Endeavor for the Red Sox affiliate has seemingly already been rejected. That said, ownership groups are permitted to own up to 24 minor league teams at a time, meaning Endeavor has plenty of room to continue its pursuit of the Worcester outfit and add several other affiliates to its portfolio.
Some other minor league notes from around the league:
- Per Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Phillies have hired former big-league shortstop and 1992 AL Rookie of the Year Pat Listach as the bench coach for their High-A affiliate, the Jersey Shore BlueClaws. Listach played in parts of six seasons with the Brewers and Astros and has been a part of multiple major league coaching staffs, including with the Nationals, Cubs, and Astros, and has held minor league roles with the Cubs, Dodgers, and Mariners. Most recently, he served as the manager of the Mexican League’s Acereros de Monclova, whom he led to the playoffs in 2019 and 2021.
- On Thursday, the Tigers unveiled their new-look set of minor league coaching staffs. Included among the new faces in Detroit’s ranks are 2016 World Series-winning coach Gary Jones, taking over as Triple-A manager, and former Tigers third baseman Gabe Alvarez, hired as the organization’s new Double-A manager. Chris McCosky of The Detroit News helpfully compiled the full list of Detroit’s development personnel changes here.
