Starting in 2019, it appears the Milwaukee Brewers will have their AAA team in a new location.
The Colorado Springs Sky Sox say they will be “realigned as a member of the Short Season Pioneer League.”
Currently, they are member of the Pacific Coast League as the Brewers affiliate in the Pacific Coast League, and have been since 2015.
Previous to that, Milwaukee had a long-term relationship with Nashville before they switched to the Oakland A's organization for 2015 and beyond.
Now, Milwaukee has to find a new location.
There were reports in 2016 that the Sky Sox ownership group wanted to move the Brewers AAA team to San Antonio. It appears the current AAA franchise in Colorado Springs will indeed move to San Antonio. The current AA franchise in San Antonio would then move into a new ballpark planned to be built in Amarillo, TX.Â
The Sky Sox and those other teams are all owned by the “Elmore Sports Group” allowing the moves to be as smooth as possible.Â
The Brewers in all likelihood are not done in Colorado Springs. The Pioneer League team that is moving to Colorado is the Brewers' short-season affiliate in Helena, MT.Â
While many Major League teams are trying to buy their Minor League affiliates, the Brewers do not own their AAA franchise or rookie-level team. The Brewers place their players on those teams through a “Player Development Contract”. Those agreement can be signed in multiples of two years. The Brewers agreements with the Elmore's AAA team (currently in Colorado Springs) and rookie-level team (currently in Helena, MT) are both up after the 2018 season so there is no definitive word on where the Brewers will have their affiliates after all the teams move around.
Because the Brewers do not own their AAA franchise, they have very little control on where they play in the future. It does not appear that they will travel with the Sky Sox to San Antonio so they will probably be affiliated with another new franchise after the 2018 season.
The Brewers can also not just create a new AAA team because all teams throughout Minor League baseball exist under a charter between the team's owner and MiLB.Â