San Antonio is losing the Missions AA baseball team, which has played in the city for more than four decades, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports, but San Antonio is moving up one notch, with a AAA team moving to the city.
In return, the Elmore Sports Group, which owns the Missions, says San Antonio will receive a AAA team which currently plays in Colorado Springs.
The current San Antonio AA team will relocate to Amarillo following the 2018 season, and the new AAA team will begin play in San Antonio in 2019
The Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Pacific Coast League will relocate to San Antonio. The Elmore people didn't say where the team will play in San Antonio, but it is expected to, at least at first, play in Wolff Stadium, now home of the Missions.
The Sky Sox are the PCL affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers Organization.
The Elmore Group says the San Antonio franchise will continue to be called the Missions.
The Double-A Missions will play their final season in the Texas League in 2018. Upon the rise to Triple-A in 2019, the Missions will continue to be led by President Burl Yarbrough and his staff, as they have been for the previous 30 seasons.
"I am thrilled to be able to lead the Missions and our fan base into a new era of Professional Baseball in San Antonio," said Yarbrough.
The ownership group didn't announce what name the Missions will have when it starts play in Amarillo in the 2019 season, or what big league team it will be affiliated with.
The Elmore Group says the new AAA San Antonio Missions will continue to play, at least initially, in Nelson Wolff Stadium.
Branch B. Rickey, President of the PCL, further adds, "To anticipate bringing the highest classification of minor league baseball to San Antonio recognizes the Elmore Sports Group's and the PCL's convictions that Triple-A Baseball is seen as a natural fit here. And to build on the team's already high standing in this market will give the new Missions and new venture even greater credibility. In recent years our League has had remarkable success in working with municipal officials and civic leaders to spark revitalization and new development in quite a number of other cities. The success of these other projects prompts natural speculation and confidence that something similar can and will happen in this city."