Pittsburgh Pirates

Indianapolis Indians

Altoona Curve

Bradenton Marauders

FCL Pirates

Greensboro Grasshoppers

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Current Pittsburgh Pirates domestic minor league affiliate locations

The Pittsburgh Pirates farm system consists of seven Minor League Baseball affiliates across the United States and in the Dominican Republic. Four teams are owned by the major league club, while three—the Indianapolis Indians, Altoona Curve, Greensboro Grasshoppers—are independently owned.

The Pirates have been affiliated with the Double-A Altoona Curve of the Eastern League since 1999, making it the longest-running active affiliation in the organization among teams not owned by the Pirates. It is also the longest affiliation in the team's history. Their newest affiliate is the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic League, which became a Pirates affiliate in 2019.

Geographically, Pittsburgh's closest domestic affiliate is the Altoona Curve, which are approximately 85 miles (137 km) away. Pittsburgh's furthest domestic affiliates are the Single-A Bradenton Marauders of the Florida State League and the Florida Complex League Pirates of the Rookie Florida Complex League, which play at separate facilities in Bradenton, Florida, some 907 miles (1,460 km) away.

The Pittsburgh Pirates farm system consists of seven minor league affiliates.^[1]

Minor League Baseball operated with five classes (Double-A, Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class D) from 1920 to 1935.^[2] Class A1, between Double-A and Class A, was added in 1936.^[3] The minors continued to operate with these six levels through 1945.^[3] Triple-A was established as the highest classification in 1946, and Class A1 became Double-A, with Class A through D remaining.^[3] These six levels continued through 1962.^[2] The Pacific Coast League (PCL) was reclassified from Triple-A to Open in 1952 due to the possibility of becoming a third major league. This arrangement ended following the 1957 season when the relocation of the National League's Dodgers and Giants to the West Coast ended any chance of the PCL being promoted.^[2]

Prior to the 1963 season, Major League Baseball (MLB) initiated a reorganization of Minor League Baseball that resulted in a reduction from six classes to four (Triple-A, Double-A, Class A, and Rookie) in response to the general decline of the minors throughout the 1950s and early-1960s when leagues and teams folded due to shrinking attendance caused by baseball fans' preference for staying at home to watch MLB games on television. The only change made within the next 27 years was Class A being subdivided for the first time to form Class A Short Season in 1966.^[2]

Minor League Baseball operated with six classes from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, the Class A level was subdivided for a second time with the creation of Class A-Advanced. The Rookie level consisted of domestic and foreign circuits.^[2]

The current structure of Minor League Baseball is the result of an overall contraction of the system beginning with the 2021 season. Class A was reduced to two levels: High-A and Low-A.^[110] Low-A was reclassified as Single-A in 2022.^[111]

• Baseball-Reference: Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Affiliates