Myrtle Beach Pelicans are changing minor league levels and leagues. They have new rivals
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans, who have played at the Advanced-A level of minor league baseball since the team’s inception in 1999, are dropping to Low-A in a new Major League Baseball player development alignment.
The Pelicans are swapping places with the Chicago Cubs’ affiliate in South Bend, Indiana, which has been the Low-A team that has fed players to the Pelicans as they move up in the Cubs’ organization.
That means Myrtle Beach will predominantly get players who are in their first full seasons of pro ball.
“This is a very positive development all around,” Pelicans managing partner Chuck Greenberg told The Sun News. “To be selected to be part of the system, to have heard all the complimentary comments about our organization and community from Major League Baseball throughout the process, to be able to continue to enjoy the special working relationship we have with the Cubs, we couldn’t be more excited for baseball to be back at the beach.”
The Carolina League, of which Myrtle Beach has been a member since the franchise’s founding, has been disbanded in the new minor league baseball realignment.
While dropping down a level, the Pelicans will now have closer division opponents that will likely become rivals.
Myrtle Beach is in the South Division of Low-A East, which is made up of three divisions. The other three teams in the South Division are also in South Carolina in the Charleston RiverDogs, Columbia Fireflies and Augusta GreenJackets in North Augusta, who will require the longest bus ride to a division opponent of approximately 3 1/2 hours.
“We were totally ambivalent about High-A vs. Low-A,” Greenberg said. “Not that we had a say in the matter. We just didn’t care one way or the other. For us, being able to play against Charleston and Columbia are much more significant in terms of having local rivalries and more of a South Carolina theme to it, and to have another fan-pleasing feature to promote. To us that easily transcends whether we’re high-A or low-A. I think for fans this is going to be a really good thing.”
Greenberg expects less travel in 2021 for player safety, so there may be more divisional play in 2021 than in coming years. The schedule is expected to be released within the next week.
The Chicago Cubs are retaining their top four affiliates, with Myrtle Beach and South Bend trading levels, and the Double-A Tennessee Smokies in Kodak and Triple-A Iowa Cubs in Des Moines remaining at their levels.
Myrtle Beach is expecting to play its 22nd season as a franchise in early April. It will be the Pelicans’ sixth as a Cubs affiliate after four seasons with the Texas Rangers and 12 with the Atlanta Braves.
The Pelicans are expecting to play in front of spectators this season after having their 2020 season canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Low-A East league was created as part of a reorganization and contraction of the Major League Baseball player development system, which no longer features short-season and rookie leagues.
Each of the 30 big league clubs now has four minor league affiliates that will generally travel less distance to play games this upcoming season, and players are receiving salary increases ranging from 38% to 72% in 2021.
The Low-A East’s Central Division is comprised of four teams in North Carolina in the Carolina Mudcats, Down East Wood Ducks, Fayetteville Woodpeckers and Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. The North Division is comprised of the Salem Red Sox, Lynchburg Hillcats and Fredericksburg Nationals, all in Virginia, and Delmarva Shorebirds in Maryland.
“We’re real excited to be part of it and very enthusiastic and upbeat about the future,” Greenberg said.
This story was originally published February 12, 2021 at 5:02 PM.
