This is something that baffles me. I remember when the Norfolk Tides changed from the Mets to the Orioles and they were talking about the ease of moving players and consolidating resources, yadda, yadda, yadda.
I thought this was flawed logic. In todays age you can be anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours, so moving players is bunk.
As for consolidating resources, how many resources do they actually share ??? They don't share equipment, facilities, support staff, etc.. As far as I know the Minor League Franchises are independently owned and operated. If it weren't for that I could possibly see consolidating as a way to cut overhead... back then. But today not so much. I manage people and resources in California, Pennsylvania, Utah, Texas and more all from Virginia.
My uninformed opinion would be to spread out your franchises to build the largest geographical fan-base you can.
On the other hand free agency has probably ruined that as well, Think about it, the players coming up through the minors, if they make it, probably won't be in the same franchise which would diminish that loyalty. Growing up I saw Mookie Wilson, Daryl Strawberry, Lenny Dyskstra and more play for the Tides and would get excited to see them on the Mets. Today your favorite players at your local franchise could end up anywhere. It's a cargo net vs a ladder now.
Another thing is the seemingly constant team name changes in the minor leagues. Today when I go to MiLB game I have to look up who the team is and who they are a part of.