The Rangers have a new Triple-A affiliate. Here’s who it is and why it isn’t San Antonio
The Texas Rangers enjoyed the advantages of having their Triple-A affiliate in the state the past eight seasons, in Round Rock, and before that having the Triple-A club in Oklahoma City for 29 seasons.
It was a three-hour drive either way. Flights were so short that flight attendants couldn’t even serve drinks.
San Antonio would have been 90 minutes further away on I-35. Flights might have been more popular, and only slightly longer. As luck would have it, with the Rangers needing a new home for their Triple-A team, San Antonio had a franchise available.
The Rangers, though, agreed Tuesday to a four-year player-development contract with the Nashville Sounds, whose facilities were the best of the available franchises after Round Rock didn’t renew its contract with the Rangers on Monday and joined the Houston Astros’ system.
San Antonio’s facilities and the uncertainty of the construction of a future ballpark in the Alamo City left the Rangers with no choice but to leave the state.
“The Nashville Sounds front office has a great reputation of taking care of its players, and we believe this is a tremendous opportunity,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “I think our players and development staff will enjoy playing and working in an environment with first-class facilities and an exciting game atmosphere.”
The Sounds’ 3-year-old ballpark is located in downtown Nashville, and they finished with an attendance of more than 600,000 this season. Nashville became available after its agreement with the Oakland Athletics ended.
The Milwaukee Brewers will relocate from Colorado Springs to San Antonio. The third possibility for the Rangers was the Fresno Grizzlies, the Astros’ former Triple-A home, and they reached a deal with the Washington Nationals.
The Nationals also wanted to be in Nashville, which is a frequent host of baseball’s winter meetings. For the next four years, the city will be the Triple-A home of the Rangers.
This story was originally published September 18, 2018 at 3:42 PM.