Fansided · Dec 9, 2020
Detroit Tigers: Minor League Affiliate Changes
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Wednesday was the day Major League Baseball officially invited 120 minor-league teams to be part of a revamped development system. Dozens of teams are now without MLB clubs, including one of the Detroit Tigers affiliates.
Minor-league baseball affiliations have always been somewhat strange. MLB teams like the Detroit Tigers would sign minor-league clubs to player development contracts lasting two or four years, and every so often teams switched affiliates.
These swaps didn’t mean much to fans of the big-league teams, but for the millions of people who lived near minor-league towns it could be confusing and upsetting.