The dust has finally settled on the Minor League Baseball affiliate “free agency” window. In all, 21 minor league teams changed affiliates; several came as a bit of a shock.
Probably the most surprising move was the Colorado Rockies and the Colorado Springs Sky Sox severing ties, as the Sky Sox become the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Rockies will send their Triple-A players down to Albuquerque as the Isotopes are their new affiliate. Rockies fans used to be able to catch a Sky Sox game in the afternoon and make it back to Denver for an evening game in Coors, but will now have to travel across state lines to see their Triple-A squad.
The Brewers move into a market that isn’t exactly loaded with Brewers fans, and lose out on being the team to be the host of the new ballpark in Nashville, as the Oakland A’s have moved from Sacramento the Nashville. Replacing the A’s in Sacramento are another bay area team in the San Francisco Giants. The Fresno Grizzles won’t need to adjust their Giant inspired orange highlight color, as the Houston Astros take over, while the Dodgers now call Oklahoma City home.
The Dodgers also change Double-A affiliates, as they take the Tulsa Drillers from the Rockies who move to New Britian. The Twins now call Chatanooga their Double-A home.
The California League will no longer house a Cincinnati Reds affiliate, as the Bakersfield Blaze are now an affiliate of a West Coast team in the Seattle Mariners, who change from the High Desert who will now host the Texas Rangers. The Reds are now in Daytona, where the team formerly named the Cubs will be looking for a new nickname.
The Cubs are now in Myrtle Beach while the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians swap Carolina league affiliates, with the Carolina Mudcats now a Braves affiliate and Lynchburg now an Indians affiliate.
In Low-A, the South Bend Silver Hawks re-brand as the South Bend Cubs as the Diamondbacks give way to the Cubs and take over in Kane County.
In short-season ball, the Rockies head to Boise, the Cubs to Eugene, and the San Diego Padres take over the Tri-City Dust Devils.
The Pulaski Mariners change to the Pulaski Yankees in the Appy league, giving the New York Yankees the most minor league affiliates with ten.