I think it is more the marginal TB team siphoning off the decent to pretty good rec players. each cycle makes both TB and rec weaker.Would you rather travel teams fold or rec teams?
There are X amount of players, why does it matter if they are playing travel ball or rec ball. If rec leagues are dying they did it to themselves by watering down the level of play to the point that everyone with a clue bounces out before their 11th birthday
played a TB league game earlier this week, won 17-0, it was as described, 4-5 decent players (maybe 6), the rest were filling spots.