Minor League affiliation changes

Major League clubs sign Player Development Contracts (or PDC’s) with Minor League clubs. These contracts will link the Minor League clubs to the parent club for a period of time. The MLB teams will send players to these MiLB clubs for education. The teams are completely owned (players, managers and coaches) by the MLB club. The Minor League club owns the club name, the stadium (if not owned by the city), merchendise and the concession stands.

Sometimes the Minor League affiliation landscape changes dramatically, as was the case this (Minor League) off season.

Here is a summary of the changes (so far).

AAA
The Colorado Springs SkySox will go from the Colorado Rockies to the Milwaukee Brewers. The PDC will last through the 2016 season.

The Colorado Rockies went to Albuquerque to become affiliated with the Albuquerque Isotopes through the 2018 season.

The San Francisco Giants have decided to leave Fresno for Sacramento. The RiverCats will be their affiliate. The official announcement will be later today. It may become clear how long this PDC will last.

The previous parent club of the RiverCats, the Oakland A’s, have moved to Memphis, where the Sounds will move into their new stadium next year. The PDC will last until 2019.

The Houston Astros will fill the void that the Giants left in Fresno. The Grizzlies will belong to the Astros family through the 2016 season.

The Oklahoma City Red Hawks have been bought by one of the members of Guggenheim Baseball Management, the group that owns the Dodgers. This acquisition means that the Dodgers will move to OKC. It wasn’t announced how long this PDC will last. But since there are ties between the owners, it may be for a very long time.

Some clubs just extend their PDC with their farm teams. The Cubs are a perfect example. They have extended their PDC with their name sake in Iowa through the 2018 season.

Another fine example of this are the Orioles, who will stay in Norfolk until 2019 with the Tides.

Even though the El Paso Chihuahuas have just arrived this season, the club has extended the PDC with the Padres for another two years. The previous PDC was signed when the team was still in Tucson under the Padres’ moniker.

Also the Tampa Bay Rays will stay with their AAA affiliate in the coming years. The Durham Bulls will stay in the Rays’ organization through 2018.

While hardly any team wants to be linked with Las Vegas, the Mets have decided to stay with the 51s until 2017.

AA
The Arizona Diamondbacks have extended their affiliation with the Mobile BayBears through the 2016 season.

The Dodgers also made a move on AA level. They left the Chattanooga Lookouts and have moved to Tulsa to become the Drillers‘ parent club for the coming two years.

The Lookouts have lured the Twins to become their parent club. The cooperation will keep the Twins in Tennessee through the 2018 season.

Now the Twins have a new AA team, the New Britain RockCats signed a new PDC with the Colorado Rockies, who left Tulsa. The contract will run through the 2016 season.

There were also a few extensions at AA level.

The Midland RockHounds will remain affiliated with the A;s through 2016.

The Richmond Flying Squirrels will stay linked to the San Francisco Giants through the 2016 season.

The Mariners will also stay in Tennessee. They extended their PDC with the Jackson Generals through 2016.

The Baltimore Orioles extended the PDC with the Bowie BaySox through the 2018 season.

Also the San Diego Padres have extended the PDC with their AA team. The San Antonio Missions will stay in the “Friars” organization through 2016.

A Advanced

Apparently the O’s were very satisfied with all of their farm clubs. They also extended the PDC with the Frederick Keys through 2018.

At the A advanced level, the Twins will stay in Florida with the Fort Myers Miracle. Both teams signed an extension through 2018.

Also The Nationals stick with their A advanced name sake in Potomac. Through 2016 to be exact.

The Rockies will keep their A advanced team in California, as they signed a two year extension with the Modesto Nuts.

The Dodgers will keep their team on shaky ground. The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, who play in a ballpark called the Epicenter, will stay in the Dodgers organization through 2016.

The Brew Crew will stay in the Sunshine State as they extended with the Brevard County Manatees through 2016.

The Myrtle Beach will change affiliations. The Texas Rangers used to be their parent but the Cubs will be through the 2016 season.

Also the Lynchburg HillCats have switched to a new parent club. The HillCats were the only team in the Braves’ organization that wasn’t owned by the club from Atlanta. The Indians A advanced team will calll Lynchburg home through 2018.

The Reds will move their A advanced team from the West Coast (Bakersfield) to the East Coast (Daytona). The Reds signed a deal that will last through the 2018 season with the Daytona based Florida State League champions. It is very likely that the club will have a different moniker in 2015.

A Full Season

The Cubs have left Kane County for South Bend where they have signed a PDC with the South Bend SilverHawks. A press conference will be held on September 25. I assume that a term will be announced. The SivlerHawks plan to rebrand on the occasion.

The Padres will stay in Fort Wayne with the TinCaps. The new PDC will last through the 2016 season.

Despite making some moves at other levels, the Dodgers decided to stay with the Great Lakes Loons for the coming two seasons.

The Lake County Captains will stay with the Cleveland Indians through 2016.

Also the Giants decided to keep their A advanced team in the same place. The Augusta GreenJackets will remain with the Giants through the 2016 season.

The Bowling Green HotRods will stay in the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization for another two seasons.

The Seattle Mariners have extended the PDC with the Clinton LumberKings for two more years.

The West Virginia Power have signed a contract extension with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The new contrat will last for another four years.

Also the Delmarva Shorebirds will stay with the same organization as they extended their contract with  the Orioles through the 2016 season.

The Marlins have extended their Player Development Contract with the Greensboro Grasshoppers. The team will stay an affiliate of Miami until 2019.

The Burlington Bees will stay with the Angels. Both teams signed an extension that will keep the Bees linked to Anaheim through 2016.

Texas will stay in Hickory for the time coming. They signed the Crawdads to a four year PDC extension.

Also the Nationals will stay in the Sally League. The Washington based team have signed a two year extension with the Hagerstown Suns.

A Short Season

The Orioles also extended the PDC with their affiliate in Aberdeen, where the Ironbirds will stay linked with the O’s through the 2016 season.

Another A Short Season team extended their PDC with the parent. The Vermont Lake Monsters will stay with the A’s until the end of the 2016 season.

The Phillies have signed the Williamsport CrossCutters to a two years PDC extension.

The runner up in the New York – Penn League championship, the Tri-City ValleyCats will stay with the Astros until 2017.

Rookie

After the Mariners decided to pull their Rookie team from Pulaski (Appalachian League), the Yankees jumped in. It is not clear yet how long they will stay in Pulaski.

The Dogers extended their PDC with the Ogden Raptors through the 2016 season.