After losing Alexandria, the now bankrupt Continental League finished out the 2010
season before saying goodbye for good. The best teams in the league were scooped
up by the more "New Mexico-West Texas" based Pecos League and the rest went
to the Texas Collegiate League which was a Collegiate Summer League. Independent
minor league baseball wise, no one would came calling on Bringhurst Field but
Alexandria found new life joining their Continental League partners in the less
demanding Collegiate Summer League market. In a CSL, players aren't paid...
they can't be. They are getting themselves ready for the Major League Amateur Draft
and being paid would stop their chances of getting a very lucrative $1 million
plus deal. Playing in these CSL's however gave scouts a very good way of telling
how they would perform in the Minor Leagues once they got signed. With less
money to have to pay out... the Aces signed with the Texas Collegiate League
along with former Continental League franchises in Tyler and McKinney. They would
spend 3 years in the TCL until 2013 when suddenly the United League came calling
once again. The U.L. however by this point had fallen on very tough times
after the merger with the North American League was dissolved. Many wondered
if the U.L. would even be able to finish a full season back on their own again.
Still it was a chance for Alexandria to help the league survive and the Aces were
back to being an independent minor league team. |