Good stuff:
So, as you can see, many of the top up and coming future hall of famers were sold to the major leagues.1955 – When the 1955 Negro American League season ended the league had been
reduced to six teams. This was a dramatic departure from the twelve Negro
League teams that had played the 1948 season. Gone were teams like the
Homestead Grays, Newark Eagles, New York Cubans, Cleveland Buckeyes and
Baltimore Elite Giants. These teams had been an integral part of the foundation of
Negro League baseball. The Indianapolis Clowns under the ownership of Syd
Pollock dropped out of the league to pursue a full time barnstorming schedule.
Tom Baird would sell his best twelve players to Major and Minor League
organizations and then sell what was left of the team to Ted Rasberry. In addition,
the up and coming stars of the league (Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Elston Howard,
Willie Mays and others) were all sold to the Major League.
So, as you can see, many of the top up and coming future hall of famers were sold to the major leagues.
And players defected to canada, japan and Mexico as their salaries were cut after a cap limit was imposed.