Old Business
We had hoped to be able to say in 2020 that we had seen every team in affiliated baseball, and visited the stadiums where they compete, but the pandemic intervened. Three years later, it was days of off-and-on rain that kept us from making that claim. So, at the end of the 2023 season, the answer to "What's Left?" was Atrium Health Ballpark, the home of the KANNAPOLIS CANNON BALLERS. (See The List for a full account of where we have gone and who we have seen.)
This Year
Four new ballparks opened in 2025 but we elected to visit just one; The Ballpark at America First Square, the new home of the Pacific Coast League Salt Lake Bees. The other three teams who relocated were the COLUMBUS CLINGSTONES, the Atlanta Braves' Southern League affiliate who previously played in Jackson, Mississippi; the HUB CITY SPARTANBURGERS, formerly the Down East Wood Ducks (Texas Rangers, Carolina League) who moved from charming but antiquated Grainger Stadium; and the KNOXVILLE SMOKIES, the Cubs' Southern League affiliate, who returned to their former home after a quarter-century in the suburbs. That left us at 'Done Minus Four.'
Looking Further Ahead
The decision to not travel to Columbus GA, Spartanburg SC, and Knoxville TN was strategic. Five additional ballparks will open in 2026 (see below), three of which are in the Southeast, presenting an opportunity to see all six and the Cannon Ballers in one trip.
2026
The Carolina Mudcats logo has been deservedly the most popular in Minor League Baseball so it seems a shame (but not surprising) that the team will rebrand as the WILSON WARBIRDS when the Milwaukee Brewers' Carolina League affiliate moves from Zebulon, a distance of 25 miles. The new ballpark will be located next to Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, potentially making the city of 50,000 a regional entertainment destination.
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| Whirligig Park |
The CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS are moving just three miles as part of a 140-acre, mixed-use development plan for the former Wheland Foundry and U.S. Pipe sites (South Broad Chattanooga). The Southern League team, a Cincinnati Reds' affiliate since 2019, had originally hoped to be in their new home for the 2025 season but financing and construction delays pushed the timeline out a year.
The HILLSBORO HOPS (Arizona Diamondbacks, Northwest League), who have played at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex since relocating from Yakima in 2013, are moving to another site within the public park.
It's not a game of musical chairs if you don't remove a chair, which is what will occurr in the California League. The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes extended the lease of their current stadium and negotiated fulfillment of the MLB facility requirements there, while at the same time agreeing to move to a ballpark being built as part of the 200-acre Ontario Regional Recreation Complex.
The Inland Empire 66ers will move to The Epicenter — one of the best stadium names in baseball — and assume the Quakes moniker. The Modesto Nuts will move to San Bernardino and become the 66ers. For all that, we gain only one new stadium/team, the NEW ONTARIO SQUAD. (The team name will be revealed on September 18, 2025.)
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| at dusk (or with a wildfire nearby) in Ontario, California |
The RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS have to be the most patient team in minor league baseball, waiting 15 years for a new stadium without (publicly, at least) threatening to move. The city selected a developer for a 67-acre mixed-use development in 2022 but the deal fell through, potentially forcing the Giants' Eastern League affiliat to move. Under deadline pressure from MLB, Gilbane was named the developer in July 2024. The global builder with over 150-years of experience committed to constructing a new ballpark by 2026.
2027
In spite of unanswered questions about financing and the proposed site, Everett WA continues to plan for an "outdoor event center" that will serve as the new home field for the EVERETT AQUASOX (Seattle Marnies, Northwest League) and potentially minor league soccer. The city hopes (note that verb) to break ground in 2026, so "the frogs" could conceivably play in a new stadium, make that outdoor event center, in 2027.
2028
The EUGENE EMERALDS went with hat in hand to the University of Oregon, Lane County, and voters in Eugene, with the last rejecting a $15M bond measure by a two-to-one margin. At the end of the 2024 season, the Ems' general manager said he is speaking with municipalities in Idaho and southern and central Oregon, with Medford figuring most prominently at present. However ....
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| — the Giants' High-A affiliate has announced that it will be playing its 2026 and 2027 seasons at PK Park |
The history of the A’s plans to build a new stadium and associated development on the Oakland waterfront, then alternatively to move to Las Vegas, is so sordid that the less said, the better. On June 23, 2025, the LAS VEGAS ATHLETICS held a ceremonial ground breaking so for now, the team anticipates playing its 2028 season in Nevada.
When the SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS were sold in fall 2022 to a consortium that included seasoned baseball executives and a local real estate developer, it seemed like a breakthrough (Ballpark Digest) in the years-long hand-wringing over a new stadium. Two more years would pass before MLB threatened to relocate the Texas League team, which resulted in the City approving broad financing terms in September 2024 and one month later, inking with Bexar County a Memorandum of Understanding (San Antonio Report) that calls for a new ballpark by 2028.
UNDETERMINED
The Devil Rays, as they were called then, had played just 10 seasons at Tropicana Field when in 2007 they started to talk about moving. Long, very long story short, 0n March 13, 2025, the Rays announced that they were walking away from an agreement with the City of St. Petersburg that had taken years to negotiate.
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| snatching defeat from the jaws of victory |
Principle owner Stu Sternberg has agreed under pressure to sell the team but a sale has yet to take place, after which the search for a stadium site would need to resume, followed by negotiations with lenders, environmental review, design, and construction. The team's lease at The Trop expires in 2028.
BEYOND THE HORIZON
The owner of the KANSAS CITY ROYALS has been stating since 2021 that a new ballpark can be built for the same cost as renovating Kauffman Stadium, the fifth-oldest major league facility. The CHICAGO WHITE SOX have also expressed a desire for a new ballpark. The Royals have made more progress than the ChiSox but both schemes remain proposals.
Finally, the commissioner of baseball, Fred-somebody, supports expanding the MLB to 32 teams. He has stated repeatedly that expansion will not occur until plans for the Rays and the A's are "settled," a term of art. Nevertheless, there are potentially two more major league stadiums coming sometime in the 2030s.
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