The Winston-Salem Dash (High A; Carolina League) and the Chicago White Sox extended a player-development contract through 2022, even though it wasn’t due to expire until 2020.
“The White Sox have been great partners with our organization since the 1990s,” said Dash president C.J. Johnson. “We are thrilled to announce our continued relationship with the White Sox through 2022.”
The two-year contract follows an agreement in 2014 in which the White Sox became minority owners. Currently, Winston-Salem has the second-longest active tenured relationship with its parent club in the Carolina League, dating back to 1997 when the franchise went by the Warthogs.
One of the top family-friendly options in the state of North Carolina, the Dash led all of High-A baseball in overall attendance in 2018 with 292,774 fans visiting BB&T Ballpark. The downtown facility is entering its 10th season in 2019, with all of those years coming as the home ballpark of the White Sox High-A affiliate.
Winston-Salem has finished either first or second in Class A-Advanced baseball in overall and average attendance since the ballpark opened in 2010. Over the first nine seasons at BB&T Ballpark, a total of 2,713,684 fans have enjoyed Dash baseball, which averages out to 301,520 fans per season.
You can read more about the current state of affiliations on our Affiliate Dance page. We expect a number of player development contracts to be renewed in the coming week, but there are always intriguing openings at every level of baseball. As you can see on the Affiliate Dance page, we’re now at the point where MLB and MiLB teams can search for new affiliation options, so there’s always a shuffle of sorts at the end of the season.