Astros’ farm system debuts new setup

Sugar Land joins mix as Class AAA affiliate as part of realignment under MLB

Notably absent since 2019, minor league baseball makes its return Tuesday, when three of the Astros’ four affiliates begin play. The Astros’ new Class AAA team, the formerly independent Sugar Land Skeeters, plays its first game Thursday.

A reorganization has put the minor leagues, which were inactive in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, under the full control of Major League Baseball. There are now 120 officially affiliated teams — four for each big league franchise — spread across four levels of 30 teams each.

For now, the levels and their divisions have generic directional names that likely will be rebranded. For example, the Corpus Christi Hooks, who are in the Southern Division of Double-A Central, might wind up in a rechristened Texas League. At present, the classifications and breakdown are:

• Triple-A East (with 20 teams in three divisions) and Triple-A West (10 teams, two divisions);

• Double-A Central (10 teams, two divisions), Double-A Northeast (12 teams, two divisions) and Double-A South (eight teams, two divisions);

• High-A Central (12 teams, two divisions), High-A East (12 teams, two divisions) and High-A West (six teams, one division);

• Low-A East (12 teams, three divisions), Low-A Southeast (10 teams, two division) and Low-A West (eight teams, two divisions).

To limit travel this year in light of the ongoing pandemic, minor league teams will play six-game series and have the same off day each week.