Major League Baseball dreams remain alive in the independent Atlantic League.
For many ballplayers aspiring for a roster spot with one of the 30 MLB clubs, or with an affiliated minor league team, they learn the sad reality that there isn’t always room for them. Between contracts or being cut from tryout camps, while waiting for another opportunity to remain on MLB’s radar of relevance, this is where independent “partner leagues” become essential for agents looking to keep their clients in spikes and swinging bats.
MLB recognizes four such partner leagues: Atlantic, Pioneer, Frontier, and American Association. These leagues, spread out from coast to coast, are working with various MLB initiatives in communities where minor league clubs are no longer operating. Player and other personnel opportunities keep rosters full, with scouts busy looking for “diamonds in the rough.” Run production, pitching styles, along with execution of fielding fundamentals, just like in affiliated ball, ensure careers will continue to the next level of play or bring an abrupt end to once promising careers.
The Atlantic League, operating since 1998, remains one of the most in-demand of the four MLB partners by players looking for an opportunity to make it to “The Show,” or those looking to make a comeback. Stockpiled with 10 clubs split evenly in North and South divisions, identifying with catchy names such as Flying Boxcars, Ferry Hawks, Ghost Peppers, and Dirty Birds, communities in the Atlantic League appear only too eager to back their uniquely identifiable club.
One of the more successful MLB partners in the Atlantic League, which stretches from New York City’s metropolitan area to southern-based clubs in Kentucky and North Carolina, is the Long Island Ducks. Calling Fairfield Properties Ballpark home, a 45-minute drive from the New York Mets’ Citi Field in Flushing, the Ducks are celebrating their 25th consecutive season of operation in the Atlantic League. Headquartered in Central Islip in New York’s Suffolk County since 2000, the Ducks have been the conduit for 33 players to move on to an MLB organization.
Pitcher Brady Feigl, who joined the Ducks for nine games in 2022, was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates last season and appeared in his only MLB game to date. Just as MLB affiliates plan their travel routes and equipment budgets to get them through a season, the same challenges confront partner clubs.
“Buses are hired, and our club makes the road trips like every other in the league. This past weekend we [Ducks] played in York, Pennsylvania. Saturday’s game rained out, so there was a doubleheader on Sunday. The trip should have taken between four and five hours. But, making it across the George Washington Bridge and getting through the Bronx, with traffic, the ride was closer to six hours,” Sean Smith, Ducks’ general manager and 11-year employee, told The Epoch Times.
The 6,002-seat ballpark is owned by Suffolk County. With players cruising in and out of Ducks’ uniforms, by release or signing with another club throughout the season, the one constant for Smith and his staff is to offer an affordable family night for baseball fans on Long Island. Promotions for partner clubs are every bit as essential to bring in fans as with affiliated clubs. For the Ducks, standard giveaways include balls, bats, portable fans, lunch boxes, bandanas, and perhaps the most important draw of all—firework nights.
“Parking is free. Safe, affordable, family entertainment is what we are about,” said Smith, a graduate of Gettysburg College, and a native Long Islander. “There’s no silver bullet to attract crowds to the ballpark. We have to get creative; using pocket schedules, some paid social media exposure, media releases, and sales sponsorships.”
In the 2024 season, MLB clubs or foreign pro leagues purchased 10 of the Ducks players’ contracts. One such player to be picked off the Ducks roster for life in affiliated ball is Jackie Bradley, Jr. The 11-year pro, who was a member of the Boston Red Sox teams that won the 2013 and 2018 World Series, was signed by the Mets and assigned to their Triple-A club in Syracuse, N.Y.
The level of talent in the partner leagues is generally graded between Double-A and Triple-A levels, with a reported minimum salary of $30,250. In the Atlantic League, the maximum salary is $3,000 monthly. These wages are on par with those of MLB minor league players, where the minimum at the Triple-A level is $35,800. Double-A equals that of the Atlantic League’s minimum salary. Keeping players employed, be it in affiliated ball or for a “partner league,” remains paramount.
Prior to the Ducks opening their 2025 season at home on April 25 with a three-game series against Lancaster, Pa., Stormers, Smith tells of what spring training, Atlantic League style, is about.
“Two weeks before the season started, the Ducks played local semi-pro teams, and then a barnstorming team from California were our opponents.”
The Ducks, and no doubt the nine other Atlantic League franchises, pride themselves on offering the best showcase for players and clubs of all levels of competition. Soda, popcorn, and hot dogs are among the ingredients, with a family atmosphere (and solid play on the field) helping bring along the next generation of baseball fans on Long Island—a winning recipe for any partner league city.
