The Orioles have the shortest cumulative distance between its four full-season minor league affiliates in baseball at 487 miles (784 km).[3] The top four affiliates are located within a 200-mile (320 km) radius from Baltimore, with three of them situated in Maryland. Geographically, Baltimore's closest domestic affiliate is the Baysox of the Double-A Northeast, which is approximately 24 miles (39 km) away. Baltimore's furthest domestic affiliate is the Florida Complex League Orioles of the Rookie Florida Complex League some 892 miles (1,436 km) away.
Baltimore Orioles
2021–present
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. Class A Short Season teams and domestic Rookie League teams that operated away from Spring Training facilities were eliminated.[4] Low-A was reclassified as Single-A in 2022.[5]
Minor League Baseball operated with six classes from 1990 to 2020. 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.[10]
The foundation of the minors' current structure was the result of a reorganization initiated by Major League Baseball (MLB) before the 1963 season. The reduction from six classes to four (Triple-A, Double-AA, Class A and Rookie) was a 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.[10]
(The Orioles were involved in minor league affiliate co-op agreements twice—the Pulaski Phillies with various other MLB clubs in 1976 and the Daytona Beach Islanders with the Texas Rangers in 1985.)
The minors operated with six levels (Triple-A, Double-A and Classes A, B, C and D) from 1946 to 1962. 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 killed any chance of the PCL being promoted. The 1963 reorganization resulted in the Eastern and South Atlantic Leagues being elevated from Class A to Double-A, five of seven Class D circuits plus the ones in B and C upgraded to A, and the Appalachian League reclassified from D to Rookie.[10]
