Truly I say to you today: Double-A ball offers no challenge to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. besides that of a blank canvas upon which he can paint wild highlights. The 19-year-old slugger has spent his time with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats smacking big dingers and generally looking like he belongs at a higher level, and…

President Donald Trump signed the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill into law today, just hours after he threatened to veto it. That avoids a government shutdown and does a whole lot of other things, too, but the portion most directly relevant to professional sports is the Save America’s Pastime Act, which secures…

The national spending bill that’s expected to pass later Congress this week includes a provision exempting minor-league baseball players from labor standards—meaning that paying players paltry wages would go from being an incredibly stupid tradition to being codified in federal law.

Yankees minor leaguer Thairo Estrada was shot in his right hip last week in Venezuela during what he says was a botched robbery at a restaurant. Manager Aaron Boone said he was recovering quickly, and should be available for the “bulk of the season.”

Derby, Team Bat Dog for the double-A Trenton Thunder, has died of cancer at nine years old. Derby was a beloved member of the Thunder, and he began his retrieving apprenticeship in 2008 under his father Chase. Even as his face got all gray, Derby continued to do his thing and go pick up bats. Thunder GM Jeff Hurley …

If you read the press release announcing the construction of a new ballpark out in Summerlin, Nev. for the Las Vegas 51s, you might have thought that the construction would mercifully be completed without use of public money. The Raiders’ stadium deal is the worst heist in American history, and one may have thought…

Bubba Derby is a minor-league pitcher in the Brewers system, and he was at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas when Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd, killing at least 59 people. Derby was at the festival with several family members and friends, and he’s since detailed the terrifying experience of being…

Freshly promoted to high Class-A baseball, Tim Tebow has been hitting the ball better than ever before. In his previous stop with the low Class-A Columbia Fireflies, he hit just .220. The former QB is hitting .326 at the moment with the St. Lucie Mets, and this evening he produced his most sanctified highlight of his…

Baseball has been worse off ever since Vladimir Guerrero retired, as the game can always use more unrepentant oddballs who will hit singles off of pitches that bounced in the dirt and generally hack away with little thought of the consequences. Guerrero’s never coming back, but there’s a decent chance we’ll be seeing…

Minor league baseball is a land of bizarre promotions; from speed dating night to toilet seat night, farm clubs will always go the extra absurd mile to keep up the enthusiasm—and this can be excused, when the on-field entertainment consists of just-passing-throughs and never-will-bes.

For a while, this basebrawl was suitably wild without exceeding the bounds of a typical melee. During a Sunday game between the West Michigan Whitecaps and the Dayton Dragons of the Class-A Midwest League, Whitecaps shortstop Daniel Pinero stepped on Jose Siri’s ankle after he stole second. Siri and Pinero got in each…

Tim Tebow, former football player and current brand/alleged baseball player, is hanging out with the Single-A Columbia fireflies before he inevitably goes on TV full-time. He’s done some productive baseball stuff with the Fireflies and might even get moved up at some point this season. Tebow is hitting .211 with an…

Tim Tebow, author and former college football quarterback, kicked off his time with the class-A Columbia Fireflies this evening with a bang. The motivational speaker stepped up to the plate against the Augusta Greenjackets and socked a dinger in his very first at-bat.

The AAA baseball team formerly known as the New Orleans Zephyrs will henceforth be known as the New Orleans Baby Cakes. This is undoubtedly a unique mascot, one that will surely draw internet ire the same way that fellow New Orleanian King Cake Baby (deservedly) did, but Baby Cakes is a good mascot. It’s regionally…

Jesus walked on water; Tim Tebow walked off against the Mesa Solar Sox. Tebow’s minor league career has thus far been marked by miracles, a marked inability to hit the baseball, and a minor injury, but tonight, he slapped a walk-off single for the Scottsdale Scorpions. 

Tim Tebow performed a great feat today, reaching base twice against the Peoria Javelinas. He hit a single in his first at-bat, and he now somehow has a three-game hitting streak. Tebow reached on a fielder’s choice in the fourth, then tried to steal second.

On Sunday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ AAA affiliate Indianapolis Indians beat the Toledo Mud Hens, the Tigers’ AAA club, 6-2. After the game, several players from both clubs went to The Bronze Boar, a sports bar across the street from the Mud Hens’ stadium. Pirates prospects Gift Ngoepe and Dovydas Neverauskas and…

Matt Paré, a catcher with the San Francisco Giants’ Single A affiliate in Augusta, Ga., doesn’t seem to mind sharing a two-bedroom apartment with three other guys. “Since half the time we’re on the road, it’s only 15 days a month,” he says. On the road, he shares a hotel room with just one of those roommates. This…

This morning, the author of the “Save America’s Pastime Act” disavowed the bill as a wrongheaded attempt to stifle already inadequate wages. Congresswoman Cheri Bustos did a complete 180 and wrote that, “I believe that Major League Baseball can and should pay young, passionate minor league players a fair wage for the…

Minor league baseball players don’t make much money. Since 1976, MLB salaries have risen 2,500 percent while minor league salaries have only gone up 70 percent. Players in low-A ball start at $1,100 a month, while AAA players earn $2,150 per month. Monthly wages slowly increase the longer a player sticks around, but…