October 4th, 2018 at 7:00 am 
by Lauren Jennings * * * * * * * * * * * *
UPDATE-2 – October 4, 2018 at 7:00 a.m. PT
The Padres have resigned with both their short-season team, the Tri-City Dust Devils, and Quakes opponent, the Lake Elsinore Storm. Because of the move of the San Antonio Missions to AAA, the Padres were left without a AA team until they signed with the new, unnamed AA team in Amarillo.
The Twins signed with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, leaving only the Cubs and Athletics with expiring PDC’s. However, it is likely they will remain where they are and not affect who the Tulsa Drillers will play.
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UPDATE-1 – September 28, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. PT
West Virginia Power- Pirates to Mariners through 2020
Chattanooga Twins to Reds through 2020
Ogden Signed “working agreement w/Dodgers”- Alanna Rizzo, Dodgers Press Release (No announced year extension).
Pioneer Rookie League – Since the original publication of this article, the Ogden Raptors “have signed a working agreement” with the Dodgers, although no other information has been given at this time as far as how long this agreement will be in place for or what it entails. With the Mariners signing with a new team, just the White Sox and Royals remain with unsigned PDC’s.
Class A – After parting ways with the LumberKings, the Mariners will now join the South Atlantic league as affiliates of the West Virginia Power.
AA – Dodgers former AA affiliate, the Chattanooga Lookouts has ended its four-year tender with the Minnesota Twins and begins a new contract with the Reds. This means the Drillers could have a new opponent in the Twins depending on what league they end up in.
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(Original Article)
Now that the Minor League Baseball (MiLB) season has officially come to a close, teams are either renewing their Play Development Contract’s (PDC’s) with their current MLB affiliates, or searching for new teams and ballparks to work with next season.
For example, each of the Dodgers MiLB teams had 2018 PDC expiration dates.
The Dodgers re-signed with the Oklahoma City Dodgers, the Tulsa Drillers, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, and the Great Lakes Loons through 2020. The Ogden Raptors, however, still remain up in the air.
As of now, two other teams, possibly three, in the Pioneer Rookie League, where the Raptors play, have 2018 PDC expirations. It is possible in the coming weeks that there could be a minor shakeup in affiliations at the rookie ball level, but there are very few options as most of the other rookie teams are owned by their MLB affiliates and will not be moving anytime soon.
In the Midwest League, home to the Loons, 13 of the 16 teams have PDC contracts extended through at least 2020.
The Clinton LumberKings have signed with the Miami Marlins, who were previously affiliated with the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic League.
The Diamondbacks and Athletics are the two teams who have not made a decision yet. The teams with expired contracts could end up renewing and remain affiliates of the Athletics and Diamondbacks respectively, or they could switch to the White Sox or Mariners.
Should either of the teams not resign, it would bring in new opponents for the Loons to face, affiliate wise, next season.
In the California League, home of the 2018 Champion Quakes, all affiliates have re-signed aside from one. Throughout all three Advanced Single-A leagues, the only holdouts that remain are the Tampa Bay Rays (Florida State League) and the Padres (California League), although the Rays will likely re-sign, as they are partial owners of their Advanced Single-A affiliate in Port Charlotte, FL.
The 2018 Cal League Champion Rancho Cucamonga Quakes will return to LoanMart Field, arguably the best ballpark in the MiLB, in 2019. (Photo credit – Lauren Jennings)
For the Tulsa Drillers, the Double-A Dodgers affiliate, the Texas League will see some light changes, but the big one is in location.
The Midland RockHounds, the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, are the only team waiting for a PDC extension, but the big move is the San Antonio Missions moving from Double-A to Triple-A. A new team will take their place in Amarillo, TX. As the Missions, they were affiliated with the Padres, but there’s no word yet if that relationship will transfer to their new AA home.
Several other AA teams in the Eastern and Southern Leagues are still waiting to find out if their PDC contracts will be extended or if they will begin a new one. This could lead to a small shift between the three leagues, giving the Drillers the possibility of a new opponent(s).
The moves that could have the most effect on a Dodgers MiLB team would be the movement occurring at the Triple-A level. The Oklahoma City Dodgers will be getting a new opponent in the Fresno Grizzlies, as the Nationals have moved their AAA affiliate from the International League to the Dodgers Pacific Coast League (PCL). The move sent the Mets from Las Vegas to the International League.
Chukchansi Park – Home to Fresno Grizzlies.
(Photo credit – Lauren Jennings)
OKC Dodger fans will still (presumably) get to see Fresno Grizzlies mascot Parker in 2019, when the Washington Nationals Triple-A affiliate moves into Chukchansi Park and the Houston Astros Triple-A affiliate moves out.
(Photo credit – Lauren Jennings)
The team in Las Vegas, previously the 51’s, will be moving to a new stadium in Summerlin, NV and will now be the affiliate of the A’s. However, the OKC Dodgers will only see this new team once next season, as per usual.
The Las Vegas 51’s was the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate from 2001 to 2008. They played their games at Cashman Field in Las Vegas which, at this point, still remains vacant for the 2019 season.
(Photo credit – Lauren Jennings)
The former A’s affiliate, the Nashville Sound, will now be the Rangers AAA team. The Astros AAA moves from Fresno to Round Rock, where the Rangers were previously settled.
Last but not least, and this one is a big one, the Double-A San Antonio Missions will move to the Triple-A PCL and face the Dodgers as a Brewers affiliate. The team will be composed of some of the same players from Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox, they will just play in San Antonio instead.
The Colorado Springs Sky Sox will still be an active team, just at the rookie level instead of AAA, replacing the Helena Brewers.
The changes may seem overwhelming, but the MiLB off-season provides fans the opportunity to learn them while we sit by the window and wait for spring to come.
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Great stuff, Lauren, and welcome to the ThinkBlueLA staff!
Please keep us informed of any off-season moves/news that you may come across.
Would like to see Dodgers shift its Class A Short Season team from Ogden to a team in the NYP — Brooklyn would be an ideal location, or Staten Island, or even West Virginia. Weather (cold, snow, rain) is a problem every season for Ogden.
The Mets own the Brooklyn franchise, and the Yankees own a share of the Staten Island franchise, so neither are realistic options.
Have to agree. Even if the parent team didn’t own the Stanton Island Yankees, it’s hard to imagine that the Dodgers would bring them on as their short-season rookie league affiliate. It is simply too geographically undesirable, Ogden weather notwithstanding.
Raptors were lucky this year as only 1 game was rescheduled due to weather and that was over opening day weekend.
Honolulu used to have a AAA team, the Hawaii Islanders. They moved to Colorado Springs in the late 1980s. My friend and I would go to an Islanders game when “our” AAA team would come in for a visit: for him it was the Tucson Toros (Astros) and me the Albuquerque Dukes (Dodgers, of course).
I would marvel at the stupid numbers the Dukes players were putting up –this before I understood the PCL was a hitters league and Albuquerque was at altitude. Of course, I think the Dodgers at the time didn’t understand this, either, which is why they chose to replace Steve Garvey with Greg Brock.
Great stuff, James2! Can you imagine how much the players must have LOVED to travel to Honolulu to play the Islanders?
Reminds me of when I used to follow college football. While most teams had roughly balanced schedules (home & away) Hawaii played most of their games at home, a handy recruiting tool for WAC schools.
It may still be that way. I’ve lost all interest in football, even before the kneeling crap. But that’s another story.
It used to be that Hawaii would have an extra home game, but it isn’t like that anymore.
In my opinion Garvey leaving the Dodgers was not a decision by the Front Office, though they likely cooperated in it, nor had it anything to do with baseball.
Garvey had already stated his interest in running for the US Senate from California. He was already very popular in Los Angeles. Leaving the Dodgers without offending the fans, and going to another California based team, was a good political move.
Anaheim was too close for any real political benefit. He was already popular there. Bay area wasn’t a good idea (see “without offending the fans” above). That left San Diego.
It may have worked if he hadn’t had too much time, and too many women, on his hands once he retired and managed to screw up his political aspirations.
Re: UPDATE-2
Although there was never really much doubt that the Padres would re-up with Lake Elsinore, you just never know in the wild and wacky world of the MiLB.
From a geographical standpoint it was a no-brainer, as ‘The Diamond’ in Lake Elsinore is exactly 74.6 miles from Petco Park in San Diego … perfect for rehabbing Padres players. And when you consider that the Padres Advanced Single-A affiliate came within one game of making it into the 2018 Cal League playoffs this past season, it is, again, a no-brainer.
It also means that Sean McCall will be back as the Storm play-by-play man, and that is ALWAYS a treat!