The El Paso Chihuahuas (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) and San Diego Padres have extended their player development contract (PDC) through 2022, continuing a longstanding affiliation. The extension is a two-year add-on to an agreement that ran through 2020.
The news of the extension, tucked into a press release on the appointment of former Florida Marlins skipper Edwin Rodriguez as El Paso’s 2019 field manager, means that one of the more stable relationships in Triple-A baseball will continue. The Padres have been the Chihuahuas’ only parent club during their run in El Paso that began in 2014, and the relationship between the two clubs goes back to 2001, when the current El Paso franchise was based in Portland as the Portland Beavers.
According to a press release from the Chihuahuas, 42 former El Paso players have made their major league debut with the Padres. There has been considerable on-field success in El Paso as well, with the Chihuahuas amassing five straight winning seasons–including a 2016 campaign that resulted in their first Pacific Coast League title.