The San Diego Padres and the El Paso Chihuahuas have extended their Player Development Contract through the 2022 season. This new extension adds two years to a still running contract that expires after the 2020 season.
In a press release that announced the appointment of Edwin Rodriguez as the Chihuahuas new manager, the new PDC was announced as well. According to this press release from the Chihuahuas, 42 former El Paso players have made their major league debut with the Padres.
Both clubs are linked to each other since 2001 when the AAA team was relocated from Albuquerque to Portland. The latest version of the Portland Beavers lasted only ten seasons before it moved away from Portland and moved into a temporary home in Tucson where the team adopted the name Tucson Padres. The intention was to move the team to Escondido but that plan never got off the ground. Eventually, El Paso grabbed the bull by the horns and in 2014 the new ballpark was opened and the El Paso Chihuahuas played their first game.
The history of the AAA franchise dates back even further than 2001. It dates back to the original Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. The team was bought by Walter O’Malley in 1957, a move that gave him the rights to move the Dodgers to Los Angeles which happened a year later. To make room for the Dodgers, O’Malley moved the Angels to Spokane where they became the Spokane Indians. In 1972, the team moved to Albuquerque where they adopted the name Albuquerque Dukes. Eventually, in 2001 the team moved to Portland to become the aforementioned Portland Beavers.
Since their inaugural year in 2014, the El Paso Chihuahuas have been pretty successful with division titles in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, conference titles in 2016 and 2017 and a Pacific Coast League championship in 2016.
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