New Era of Baseball: San Antonio Missions Set To Become Triple-A Franchise

After more than a century as a Double-A affiliate in the Texas League, the San Antonio Missions are climbing up the Minor League Baseball ladder. The Elmore Group, which owns the Missions as well as several other minor league teams, plans to bring Triple-A baseball to San Antonio in 2019.

The current Missions franchise will move to Amarillo, Texas, where they’ll play in a brand new downtown ballpark. The Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the current Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers and another franchise owned by the Elmore Group, will move to San Antonio and become the Missions. The Missions are currently an affiliate of the San Diego Padres, but it is unknown which franchise they will now affiliate themselves with, though there is a possibility that the Texas Rangers might make San Antonio their Triple-A home.

“I am thrilled to be able to lead the Missions and our fan base into a new era of professional baseball in San Antonio,” Missions President Burl Yarbrough said.

Initially, the Missions will continue to play at Nelson W. Wolff Stadium, their home since 1994. However, the ballpark doesn’t meet Triple-A standards and will most likely require an upgrade, or a new ballpark could be built somewhere else in the city. Multiple locations have been looked at in the past, including several in the downtown area.

As part of their move to Triple-A, the Missions will join the 16 team Pacific Coast League, where they’ll face off with teams in cities such as New Orleans, Las Vegas and Nashville. The PCL has been in existence longer than the NHL, NBA and NFL, and it is widely considered as the second best baseball league in the world behind Major League Baseball.

“If I could do something for the San Antonio community, I want to bring [Triple-A] baseball,” Pacific Coast League President Branch Rickey said. “It’s affordable family entertainment. You can go to our games and you’ll find people that are not adults running all over the ballpark enjoying their time and falling in love with the game of baseball. It’s difficult getting kids into a Major League Ballpark because parents are hesitant to take kids repeatedly. Kids want to be everywhere, not just watching the game. The affordability of our sport gives another dimension. Having quality professional sports at minor league prices is a trophy not to be easily given up.”

Many in the city argue that this is just another minor league team in the 7th largest city in the Unites States and that San Antonio needs to seek Major League Baseball. At this moment, the MLB has no plans to expand or relocate any teams. That means San Antonio, even as a great candidate, wouldn’t realistically get a MLB until later down the road. This move up to Triple-A will bring higher caliber and more competitive baseball to San Antonio, as Triple-A is one step shy of the big leagues. Major League players often rehab at Triple-A, and almost every top prospect goes through Triple-A before they reach the MLB. San Antonio is also now with other cities that have multiple professional teams. This move is an important step that could prove to MLB, or other leagues, that San Antonio is major league worthy if they ever do decide to expand.