BIRMINGHAM–With the small distraction of a presidential election going on in the background, a couple of hundred baseball executives have gathered in the South’s most-nicknamed city for Minor League Baseball’s annual promotional seminar.

This is my first visit to Birmingham, but already I have seen it referred to as the "Magic City," "Diverse City" and "Pittsburgh of the South." Situated as we are across the street from the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, site of many an NCAA basketball game, I remember this as "the place where Dean Smith reminded Rick Pitino of his place in the coaching firmament in a 1995 regional final."

The first full day of the seminar went swimmingly, but the more obvious question you’re probably asking is, "What the heck is the minor league promotional seminar?" [...] Continue Reading »

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted on here–my first Cal League Top 20 list and the birth of my third child has kept me pretty busy–so I thought it would be a good time to empty out the old notebook and inbox with news from around the minors.

• We should find out Wednesday or Thursday if the minor league presidential campaign is going to be a one horse race. The four candidates (Pat O’Conner, Dave Chase, Jeremy Kapstein and Philip Evans) were to schedule to give presentations on Tuesday before the board of directors prior to the promotional seminar in Birmingham. If one candidate garners 75 percent of the votes, he’ll be presented as the lone candidate to the general body at December’s Winter Meetings in Nashville.

Logic seems to dictate that O’Conner (the longtime assistant to retiring Milb president Mike Moore) and Chase (former Baseball America publisher and current Memphis Redbirds president) will each garner enough support to split the vote and keep the election open to all four candidates. And don’t write off either Kapstein or Evans, each of whom has an interesting background.

Kapstein was one of the first big-time player agents in the 1970s before switching to the management side and became CEO of the San Diego Padres in 1989. He was considered among the finalists for the Red Sox GM position in 1995.

Evans comes in the race with experience running a professional minor league after serving as the first president of the National Basketball Association Developmental League from 2001 to 2007. He recently formed his own sports and entertainment consulting group based in Greenville, S.C. [...] Continue Reading »

The Portland Beavers have gone through a search for a new name to announce that the team’s new nickname will be–the Beavers.

After running surveys and polls of Portland fans and a vote on a new name, the club says fans were clear in their desire to keep the old nickname. [...] Continue Reading »

Minor League Baseball announced three more declared candidates who would like to replace the retiring Mike Moore when he steps down in December.

The Presidential Search Committee will consider David Chase, Phillip Evans and Jeremy Kapstein in addition to the first official candidate, Pat O’Connor, MiLB’s current vice president and chief operating officer. [...] Continue Reading »