Can the 3 AA baseball leagues play inter league games?

The PCL and IL cannot for AAA. For the Majors, NL and AL can. Can the Double A leagues play each other or do they play each other in their own leagues?Can the 3 AA baseball leagues play inter league games?MLB Inter league schedules were adopted to generate fan interest in "natural rivalries" and for fans to see teams they would only be able to see their team play in a World Series. NL and AL teams already play a coast to coast schedule, so integrating inter league games does not cause additional or excessive travel.



The three Double A leagues are geographically limited: Eastern (Northeast), Southern (Southeast) and Texas (Texas and Oklahoma). The reasons they do not play inter league schedules:

- Minor league team travel budgets are more limited than MLB. A lot of the travel is done by bus.

- Fan interest would be minimal and would not justify teams traveling between Maine and Texas to see a team from the Eastern league play a team in the Texas League.

- At the Double A level, it's more important for players to develop their skills for promotions to AAA and MLB than to use time to travel further than within their own league.Can the 3 AA baseball leagues play inter league games?I suppose they could, but they don't. Keeping the leagues regional helps with travel costs and rivalries. (Though it surprises me just how much territory the Pacific Coast League covers.)

For a long time, the NL and AL didn't have interleague play either. And some people oppose interleague play because it's better to lay the same number of games against teams in your division, then in your league. Interlague play messes this up. These days it could very likely hurt your record when your division plays interleague games against the AL East, when the other divisions don't.Can the 3 AA baseball leagues play inter league games?Can they, perhaps. Should they, no.



These guys, for starters, have played against each other at lower levels and during spring training every March. AA still travels primarily by bus and it is not practical for the Portland Sea Dogs to bus to Birmingham to play the Barons for a two-game set.



They also only play 140 game schedule. The time to do this would not be there. There are pother factors, but I think you get the point.



The IL and PCL champs do meet for a AAA Championship, though. And the travel in the PCL is tough as the league covers New Orleans to Iowa to Tacoma to Tucson.



That is serious travel.