Bill Murray, co-owner of the Charleston Riverdogs, the Rays newest minor league affiliate.

On Wednesday, Major League Baseball formally announced the 119 affiliated teams that have been invited to be minor league affiliates for the forthcoming season. Under the league’s new plan, the Tampa Bay Rays will have four full-season minor league affiliates: Durham (Triple-A), Montgomery (Double-A), Bowling Green (Advanced A), Charleston (Low-A). The change is part of the league’s reorganization and consolidation of the minor league affiliates.

The Rays released the details of the invitations via a team press release:

The Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs were invited to become the Rays Low-A affiliate. Charleston served as Tampa Bay’s original Low-A affiliate from 1997 until 2004, and affiliated with the New York Yankees from 2005 until 2020. Among the many former Rays prospects who played for Charleston are James Shields, B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli. In addition, Rays coaches Matt Quatraro and Paul Hoover both played for Charleston, and Toronto Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo managed Charleston in 1999 and 2000. The RiverDogs play at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park.

Today the 2020 American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays invited four communities to join with them as affiliates under Major League Baseball’s new player development structure, which begins in 2021.

The Durham (N.C.) Bulls were invited to continue as the Rays Triple-A affiliate. Durham moved to the Triple-A level in 1998, when they became a Rays affiliate, and in 22 seasons since then advanced to the postseason 16 times and captured six International League titles (2002, 2003, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2018).

The Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits were invited to continue as the Rays Double-A affiliate. A Rays affiliate since 2004, the Biscuits have won two Southern League championships (2006, 2007) and reached the postseason in five consecutive seasons from 2015-19. In 2019, they went 88-50, setting a franchise record for wins.

The Bowling Green (Ky.) Hot Rods were invited to continue as a Rays affiliate, advancing from Low-A to the High-A classification. The Hot Rods became a Rays affiliate in 2009, and have reached the postseason in four consecutive seasons (2016-19). In 2018, they won the Midwest League championship and were named Baseball America Minor League Team of the Year.

The Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs were invited to become the Rays Low-A affiliate. Charleston served as Tampa Bay’s original Low-A affiliate from 1997 until 2004, and affiliated with the New York Yankees from 2005 until 2020. Among the many former Rays prospects who played for Charleston are James Shields, B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli. In addition, Rays coaches Matt Quatraro and Paul Hoover both played for Charleston, and Toronto Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo managed Charleston in 1999 and 2000. The RiverDogs play at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park.

“We are thrilled for the opportunity to continue partnering with our friends in Durham, Montgomery and Bowling Green in developing the next wave of Rays players. They have been tremendous partners,” said Rays Vice President, Player Development and International Scouting Carlos Rodriguez. “Likewise, our relationship with Charleston many years ago was very fruitful. The RiverDogs staff and fans create an environment where young prospects can flourish and grow, and we are excited to invite them back in to the Rays family.”

“The Rays would like to thank the Charlotte Stone Crabs, Hudson Valley Renegades and Princeton Rays for their many years of affiliation with our organization,” said Rays Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Erik Neander. “The Rays were very fortunate to have close, long-standing relationships at every level, and we appreciate the pivotal role all our affiliates play in helping our players develop on their journeys to the big leagues.”

Rays affiliates combined for a .584 winning pct. (1,040-741) over the 2018-19 seasons, the best mark for any parent club during that stretch. The Rays claimed the No. 1 spot in Baseball America’s Organizational Talent Rankings in July 2019 and have held it since. In 2020, the Rays became the sixth team to rank No. 1 in Baseball America’s preseason Organizational Talent Rankings and advance to the World Series that same year, joining the 2013 St. Louis Cardinals, 2008 Rays, 1999 Atlanta Braves, 1995 Braves and 1993 Blue Jays. The Rays had seven players on Baseball America’s season-ending ranking of Top 100 prospects, tied with the Miami Marlins for most in the majors. This group includes baseball’s No. 1 overall prospect in shortstop Wander Franco and 2020 American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Randy Arozarena (No. 100 overall)—the first rookie position player to win MVP of a LCS or the World Series.

The Bowling Green (Ky.) Hot Rods were invited to continue as a Rays affiliate, advancing from Low-A to the High-A classification. The Hot Rods became a Rays affiliate in 2009, and have reached the postseason in four consecutive seasons (2016-19). In 2018, they won the Midwest League championship and were named Baseball America Minor League Team of the Year.

— Tampa Bay Rays Communications

Under the league-wide consolidation, affiliated teams were reduced from more than 160 to 119. Tampa Bay had seven affiliates in the United States prior to 2020, yet teams now are allowed just four full-season affiliates. Because of the move, Port Charlotte has shifted from High-A to the Rays Gulf Coast League affiliate. The Charlotte Sports Park will continue to serve as the team’s Spring Training facility. It will also be Tampa Bay’s informal Extended Spring Training and Instructional Leagues complex. As Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) noted, “Baltimore has announced it will have two Gulf Coast League teams to accommodate younger players. It’s not been determined if the Rays will do that.”

The decision by the Rays has been both celebrated and derided. However, one gleaming ray (excuse the pun) of hope has come from the decision to include the Riverdogs in the team’s farm system: Bill Murray is co-owner of the Charleston ball-club. Think of the synergy!

Noteworthiness

— Another meeting of the minds, another opportunity for the Rays owner, Stu Sternberg, to simultaneously open his mouth and insert his foot. I don’t even care enough to take a deep dive into his comments, and, frankly, neither should you. If you wish to dig deeper than my superficial scrape, feel free to click this link. Sternberg, once again, reiterated the same tired narrative that he’s rehashed for the last 15-years. Let’s just call it what it is: another boring attempt, by a potentially desperate owner, to reinvigorate his bullshit leverage ploy.

Be that as it may, I will take this opportunity to go on one righteously indignant tirade. Here goes nothing.

To all the Rays fans who previously took cheap shots at the team because of attendance — especially with the social distancing hot-takes at the start of the pandemic — yet are all bent out of shape now because the owner made the same exact bullshit joke on Wednesday, shut the fuck up. You are no better than him. There is no moral high-ground for you to stand on.

Secondly, to all the Tampa loyalists (the city, not the team) who championed Sternberg’s glib comments at the expense of the fan base on the other side of the bay, you enabled his petulant attacks on the fan base. You furthered a narrative that he started. You allowed Sternberg to quietly step away from that narrative and did all the legwork for him while he sat back and took it all in. You praised his $892-million gambit (cough, leverage ploy since he knew that Tampa didn’t have the money to build a stadium at the time and still doesn’t) and flagrantly waved it in the face of every single person that dared to criticize the proposal as though you were a dog that won a pissing contest. You loved him so so so very much because of his initial comments back in 2008, yet now you view him for what he truly is. Oh, and media outlets like WFLA, WDAE, and the Tampa Bay Times? You’re no better. None of you challenged Sternberg on any of his bullshit. Rather you capitulated time and again and allowed him to use you as a de facto, pro-bono PR department. Here the thing though, you can’t have it both ways.

I love my small market team and I love how the front office has worked with the relative microscopic budgets to create an incredibly competitive team. Still, Sternberg will NEVER be the benevolent owner the fan base deserves. He will always be the glib, stereotypical bottom line billionaire asshole that runs his team as such. He will always have more in common with the Duke Brothers than some idolized beloved community figure that lives in your imagination. Maybe now you’ll stop lauding him as the latter, and approach him as the former.

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