By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Last month, team owners from around the MINK League gathered for their annual meetings in Kansas City to prepare for the upcoming season.
St. Joseph Mustangs General Manager and Owner Ky Turner is also the President of the MINK League. Turner says among topics discussed, there was some exciting news
“I can tell you there has been a shift in teams, but I’m really excited about the future of the MINK and where it will go,” Turner tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
While the Sedalia Bombers and Jefferson City Renegades dropped out of the league, the league did add the North Missouri Natty’s out of Kirksville as one team.
Turner says he feels like the league is headed in a positive direction.
“And that’s just not 2026, but 2027, 2028, and beyond,” Turner says. “Just with the people who are a part of the league and the direction it’s heading, I think it’s really going to be a good thing.”
There will be an announcement at a later date of a second team being added to the league. The league is also preparing for a special year.
Turner says the 2026 season marks the 30th year of the MINK League, after a group including former St. Joseph Saints owner Lyndon Black, started the league
“Here in St. Joe, the St. Joseph Saints, actually first year for the MINK was 1996 and if my math is correct, and I don’t have to do the math because someone else told me and notified me, this is the 30th year of the MINK league,” Turner explains. “Which I think is pretty awesome for a league like this, because you look around and there’s all kinds of leagues that are either stopping or new ones, and here we are since ‘96.”
Turner says that is a big testament to the vision Black saw back in 1996 for collegiate summer baseball.
The MINK will have announcements throughout the season celebrating the anniversary. Turner says the league will do special thingsroughout the season. One of those being celebrating historic players who played in the MINK
Turner says many forget about some who have played in the MINK, using former Mustang and Missouri Western baseball player Grant Fink as an example
“Grant got drafted, I believe we were in the middle of a game, so we had dto go tell Grant, it was so much fun to be able to do this, he walked off the field after being drafted to take off cause he was drafted by Cleveland,” Turner says. “So, that was 2013, 2014, and now here we are roughly 10 years later and you turn on the Major League Baseball playoffs, wait a second that’s Grant Fink on TV he’s now their hitting coach, so maybe he’s not playing but he’s involved in Major League Baseball there.”
Turner says then there’s the Clarinda A’s who had 44 players from their franchise who have played professionally, one notable alumnus being St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith.
The 2026 season will begin at the end of May.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.
