BEXAR COUNTY (KTSA News) — The San Antonio Missions appear to be returning to the AA ranks after a season in AAA play.

As part of Major League Baseball’s reorganization of its minor league affiliation system, the Missions have been selected to be the AA affiliate of the San Diego Padres, a relationship the two teams had before the Missions were the AAA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2019 season.

“We are pleased to have received an invitation to affiliate with the San Diego Padres,” said Missions President Burl Yarbrough. “We enjoyed a terrific 12-year partnership with the Padres through the 2018 season. However, we first need to have the overall agreement with Major League Baseball formalized before any affiliation can be finalized. Once we receive the full details, we’ll be evaluating the proposal carefully to assure that it works for the Missions, our fans and the City of San Antonio before formally accepting.”

It is not clear how the City of San Antonio will respond to the news.

The city has been actively looking to increase its professional sports profile in recent years and one tangible goal the city set was to have a AAA affiliate in San Antonio.  That goal was achieved in 2019 when the Elmore Sports Group rearranged its portfolio to move its AAA team from Colorado Springs to San Antonio and moving its AA team from San Antonio to Amarillo, where it built a new stadium.

Most of the other minor league affiliations will maintain their status quo: the Corpus Christi Hooks will continue to be Houston’s AA affiliate, the Frisco RoughRiders will continue to be Texas’ AA affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas will continue to be San Diego’s AAA affiliate, and the Midland Rockhounds will continue to be Oakland’s AA affiliate.

The changes include the formerly-independent Sugar Land Skeeters becoming the AAA affiliate of Houston, the Round Rock Express will be the AAA affiliate of Texas again, the Amarillo Sod Poodles (which is owned by the same ownership group as the San Antonio Missions) will switch from being San Diego’s AA affiliate to Arizona’s AA affiliate, and the San Antonio Missions invited to become the AA affiliate of San Diego.

As part of the swap, the Texas Rangers’ former AAA affiliate — the Nashville Sounds — will become the AAA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

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