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Hurricane Dorian forces cancellation of two leagues' playoffs

With the impending bad weather on its way toward Florida, both the remaining schedules and postseasons for the rookie level Gulf Coast League and the Class A Advanced Florida State League have been cancelled.

Per a press release from Minor League Baseball, Tim Brunswick, the organization's senior vice president of baseball and business operations, said the following: "In an effort to ensure that all players, coaches and staff members have a chance to evacuate and prepare for the storm, we have decided to cancel the final two regular season games, as well as the playoffs."

Forecasts have Hurricane Dorian set to make landfall over the weekend and it is classified as a Category 3 storm with the potential to worsen to a Category 4 by Monday.

As a result of the expected impact the storm will have, all of Florida has been placed under a state of emergency.  The hurricane is expected to be a multi-day event.

The Phillies West team was set to compete in the GCL playoffs in the coming days while the Phils' affiliate Clearwater had already been eliminated from postseason contention. 

The bad weather will also impact traveling foreign players on teams from other areas of the United States. Many Dominican and Venezuelan born players expect to have their travel plans disrupted, with connecting flights scheduled to land in Florida on their routes home following many leagues' regular season early next week.

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