Since the 2011 season, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes have been a Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2021, that tradition will continue.

However, there is a bit of a catch…

The Quakes have been a member of the Advanced Single-A California League since 1993, but starting in 2021, the league will drop to the Low Single-A level.

This change will also affect other A level teams around Minor League Baseball (MiLB), with similar switches happening between other leagues of Low-A and High-A teams, as well as the addition of the new ‘MLB Draft League’ and a ‘Major League Partner League,’ which will replace the heretofore ‘Rookie Level’ and will train – and play – their games at their parent teams’ Spring Training facilities.

These changes also brought with them additional significant changes … very significant changes.

Earlier this week, it was reported – and confirmed – that the California League’s Lancaster JetHawks (Rockies) were being cut from MLB affiliation altogether, and their former Triple-A affiliate Fresno Grizzlies replacing the JetHawls as their (new) Low-A affiliate in the California League.

From a geographical (i.e., travel) standpoint, Wednesday’s announcement is a bit confusing. The Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks) are geographically closer to the Cal League South than is Fresno, yet (as of this writing), Visalia will remain in the Cal League North.

With Wednesday’s announcement came yet another revelation.

Previously, the Dodgers Low-A affiliate was the Great Lakes Loons located in Midland, Michigan. They will remain as such, but they – and the entire Midwest League – will switch to High-A.

The Dodgers have also extended their affiliation with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers and the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers.

There were rumors that the Dodgers may also pursue a partnership with the Spokane (Washington) Indians – currently a Rockies High-A affiliate in the Northwest League – but with the affiliation extensions having been officially announced, this now appears to be off the table.

But back to the Quakes. As a High-A team and with its very close proximity to Dodger Stadium, LoanMart Field has been the top choice for the Dodgers to send rehabbing players to during the season to make sure they are set to return. With this new level shift, it’s questionable whether this will remain the case. There are pros and cons now in play here.

Pros include the fact that it’s still the closest affiliate stadium to the Dodger Stadium (47.5 miles), and it’s still the same facility in general that they’ve been sending rehabbers to for 10 years now.

A potential con is that because of the shift from High-A to Low-A, there will also be a shift in the age and talent level of the players that rehabbing Dodgers would face. You can certainly argue that rehabbing is rehabbing regardless of the level of competition, but a rehabbing position player trying to get his swing and timing back would be doing so against relatively young and inexperienced pitchers.

That being said, the Loons have also enjoyed tremendous success since becoming the Dodgers Low-A affiliate in 2007, having made it to the playoffs seven times. There is certainly no reason to believe that they will not continue to do so as the Dodgers new High-A affiliate.

Other than these few (potentially minor) issues, there likely won’t be too much of a difference at LoanMart Field in 2021. Mascots Tremor and Aftershock will likely still be up to their usual shenanigans, perhaps twice as much after a season off. Postgame fireworks will continue to light up the skies above the Epicenter, and the goal of bringing home yet another Cal League Championship to the city of Rancho Cucamonga will be as strong as ever.

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