UNDATED (WHTC-AM/FM) – After not playing at all in 2020 due to the COVID 19 outbreak, and having their futures in doubt over a proposed reorganizing of organized baseball by Major League Baseball, all three of Michigan’s minor league outposts have received “invitations” to join the new system.
On Wednesday, the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers announced that the West Michigan Whitecaps and Great Lakes Loons, respectively, would remain in their organizations in what appears to be a Midwest League that is “promoted” from “Low A” to “High A” classification. The Whitecaps have been with the Tigers since 1997, and the Loons with the Dodgers since the club moved from Battle Creek to Midland in 2007.
The Lansing Lugnuts will get a new Major League affiliation, as the Oakland A’s will replace the Toronto Blue Jays, who opted to locate their High A affiliation in fellow Canadian outpost Vancouver. It will be the fourth different big league team to have an affiliate in the state capitol since the Lugnuts moved from Springfield, Illinois in 1995.
As for the Major League teams in our region: The Tigers will keep its teams in Toledo, Erie and Lakeland; the Chicago Cubs will keep its teams in Des Moines, Knoxville, South Bend and Myrtle Beach; and the Chicago White Sox will keep its teams in Charlotte (NC), Birmingham (AL), Winston-Salem and Kannapolis (NC).
All affiliations are pending approval of Professional Development Licenses by the minor league organizations, a date for which wasn’t immediately disclosed.
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