The Rochester Red Wings (Class AAA; International League) and the Minnesota Twins extended their player development contract (PDC) through the 2018 season.
“The Twins have been an outstanding partner to the Red Wings,” said Red Wings President/CEO/COO Naomi Silver. “With a Major League affiliation, a Minor League club hopes for three important things: a competitive team, having future Major Leaguers and top draft picks being a part of that team, and a Big League team that values the importance of the Minor League system. The Twins have been great to us in each of these areas. They’ve regularly fielded winning teams here and we’ve seen a lot of great players come through Rochester. Every month someone from the Twins top management comes to town to see their players and to consult with field personnel and our front office. They rely on their Minor League system to develop young players, and we are the ones who benefit from that. We consider ourselves lucky that the Minnesota Twins respect and appreciate our organization and want to continue this affiliation.”
“We do not take our choice of an affiliate lightly,” said Red Wings Chairman of the Board Gary Larder. “Having worked with the Minnesota Twins for 14 years, we know first-hand how they work as partners with their minor league teams, and that is so very, very important.”
The Red Wings are the only IL team to be five or more games over .500 each of the last four seasons as Rochester has been 10 games over in each year during that stretch, including 2016.
“It’s been a tremendous partnership that we’ve had with Rochester,” said Twins Interim General Manager Rob Antony. “The biggest things you look for in an affiliate are A. you want good ownership, Rochester has that, B. you want good facilities, Rochester has that, and C. you want a good fan base and the fans in Rochester have been very supportive of this club. The stability is great and when we landed in Rochester we knew very quickly that this was a relationship that was going to work. And they’re the same type of people we are. When things are working there’s no reason to look elsewhere for something better. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. We have put competitive teams on the field for the club and fans. On their end of it, they’ve been terrific partners and addressed some of the things that we have needed in the way of some improvements that have helped us so that we can develop our players the way we want and need to.”
“We are thrilled to continue our long-standing affiliation with the Red Wings,” said Twins Director of Minor League Operations Brad Steil. “Rochester is home to great baseball fans and we are very appreciative of all the support they have given to our players over the years.We have had a tremendous partnership with the Red Wings front office and we are looking forward to working together for many years to come.”
There are very few Triple-A affiliations open, as you can see in our look at the current affiliate status in Minor League Baseball. Realistically, the only potential changes are in Las Vegas and Colorado Springs.