minors
Noun 1. A league of professional sports teams, especially in baseball, that are of a level below the major leagues and serve as a developmental system for players. * This term specifically refers to the collective organization or system of minor leagues, not to individual players or teams. It is often used with the definite article "the."
The word "minors" is used as a proper noun (often capitalized as "Minors") to refer to the entire system of minor league baseball in North America. It functions as a singular collective noun when referring to the system as a whole.
Examples: * He spent three seasons playing in the minors before getting called up to the major leagues. * That pitcher is one of the top prospects in the Minors. * She worked her way through the minors to achieve her dream of playing in the majors.
- "To be in the minors" / "To play in the minors": This is the standard phrase for describing a player's participation in minor league baseball.
- After college, he signed a contract and started his professional career in the minors.
- Minor league (noun): Refers to an individual league within the broader minors system, or used adjectivally.
- He is a minor-league player for the Durham Bulls.
- Minor leaguer (noun): A player who competes in the minor leagues.
- The minor leaguers traveled by bus to their away games.
- Farm system (noun): A synonym that emphasizes the developmental and feeder-team aspect of the minors for a major league organization.
- Bush leagues (noun, informal/historical): An older, sometimes derogatory term for lower-level professional leagues.
- "To get sent down to the minors": When a major league player is demoted to a minor league team.
- The struggling veteran was sent down to the minors to work on his swing.
- "To get called up from the minors": When a minor league player is promoted to a major league team.
- The rookie got called up from the minors after an injury to the starting shortstop.
- a league of teams that do not belong to a major league (especially baseball)