The Missoula Paddleheads Might Get Cut From Minor League Baseball

Well, this would be a pretty rough blow. Just a couple of weeks after unveiling their new name and logo, the Missoula Paddleheads are now facing a challenge - apparently, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has backed a plan to cut 42 teams from Minor League Baseball (MiLB) and instead relegate them to an independent league. And the Paddleheads are among the 42 teams that are facing this.

The other Montana teams - the Billings Mustangs and Great Falls Voyagers - are ALSO part of the 42, along with every other team in the Pioneer League. But, according to Paddleheads vice president Matt Ellis, every team in Minor League Baseball is working together to defend themselves.

Other teams, like the Binghamton Rumble Ponies from New York, are arguing that this move, "would be detrimental to baseball on all levels." The Paddleheads are currently affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks, which would go away if they're cut from Minor League Baseball.

The current arrangement lasts through the end of the 2020 season, and this is only the first round of negotiations. So hopefully, this will all work out and be taken care of by the time the Paddleheads take the field this summer.