Lynchburg Hillcats Change Name to Hill City Howlers

Posted on February 14, 2026 by Mike McCann

The Lynchburg Hillcats have changed their name to the Hill City Howlers.  It’s a little surprising to have a name change this close to the start of the season, but maybe they are trying to align it with the beginning of spring training.  As I’ve mentioned previously, I really don’t like names that don’t have the city in them because people from outside that area often don’t know what location it is referring to.  Reading through the press release, there isn’t any information about how the Howlers nickname is connected to the city, so it almost feels like they are changing it just to change it.

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Salem Red Sox Change Name to Salem RidgeYaks

Posted on November 9, 2025 by Mike McCann

The Salem Red Sox are changing their name to the Salem RidgeYaks for the 2026 season.  It’s an interesting name choice as it’s referencing the Blue Ridge mountains and yaks, which I’ll say helps to bring in the animal aspect, but also is short for kayak.  It gives them a lot of interesting marketing opportunities, which is typically the biggest driver for a team’s nickname.

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2026 Ontario Team to be Known as Tower Buzzers

Posted on September 20, 2025 by Mike McCann

The Ontario Tower Buzzers will be joining the California League in 2026.  This team is the relocated Modesto Nuts and will be the Low-A Dodgers affiliate.  The name is a reference to Top Gun which took place in southern California.  The only other team to play in Ontario was the Ontario Orioles which played in the Class C Sunset League in 1947, before becoming the Mexicali Aguilas in 1948.

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2026 California League Moves

Posted on August 4, 2025 by Mike McCann

While this was announced in December, I overlooked it and just made these updates now.

The Dodgers are moving their California League affiliate to Ontario, CA from Rancho Cucamonga.  The name is still officially unannounced.

The Angels are moving their California League affiliate to Rancho Cucamonga, CA from San Bernadino, and will be called the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

The Mariners are moving their California League affiliate to San Bernardino, CA from Modesto, and will be called the Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino.

The Modesto Nuts will not be playing in the California League in the 2026 season.

I also realized that I hadn’t updated by Player Development Contract page in a while, but in the last two years Diamond Baseball Holdings purchased many of the teams that were owned by their major league club, so I made those updates also.

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Aberdeen IronBirds Moving to Frederick, MD for 2026 Season

Posted on August 1, 2025 by Mike McCann

The Aberdeen IronBirds are moving to Frederick, MD for the 2026 season and will be known as the Frederick Keys.  The Keys are currently a member of the MLB Draft League and they are essentially switching spots with the IronBirds.  The Orioles had their High-A affiliate in Frederick from 1989 until the reorganization for the 2021 season.  The Keys’ stadium will be upgraded in concert with this move as well.

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Carolina Mudcats Moving to Wilson, NC for 2026 Season

Posted on November 24, 2024 by Mike McCann

The Carolina Mudcats are moving to Wilson, NC for the 2026 season and will be known was the Wilson Warbirds.  The Carolina Mudcats have been around since 1991 when they were the AA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Southern League.  In 2012, they moved to Pensacola, FL, but the High-A Cleveland Indians affiliate moved from Kinston, NC when it became available.  Wilson is very close to Zebulon, where the Mudcats currently reside, so they remain in the same market, but will have a stadium in downtown Wilson.  The last team in Wilson was 1973 when they had a Carolina League team.  And I understand why they didn’t go back to the most common Wilson team name of the Tobs, short for Tobacconists, since that isn’t as popular in today’s society.

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Bowie Baysox Change Name to Chesapeake Baysox

Posted on November 24, 2024 by Mike McCann

The Bowie Baysox are changing their name to the Chesapeake Baysox for the 2025 season.  The team has been known by the same name since 1993 so they are making a change after 30 years.  I prefer the city names rather than the regional names, but maybe that will have some broader appeal and it will definitely help them sell more merchandise in the short term.

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Oklahoma City Baseball Club Change Name to Oklahoma City Comets

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Mike McCann

The Oklahoma City Baseball Club will now be known as the Oklahoma City Comets.
The previous name was intended to be temporary, so it was expected that the name would change this year.  While I’m still disappointed that they didn’t go back to the 89ers name, Comets is a more traditional team name and is based on Oklahoman Mickey Mantle’s nickname “Commerce Comet”.

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2025 Columbus GA Team Will Be Named Columbus Clingstones

Posted on September 7, 2024 by Mike McCann

The Mississippi Braves are moving to Columbus, GA for the 2025 season and the team will be known as the Columbus Clingstones.  Since I’m not from Georgia, I wasn’t familiar with the term Clingstones, but now I know it’s a type of peach.  I think that name is a good fit, although I would have preferred if they reverted to the Columbus Foxes which was used for many years, although not since 1958.

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Hub City Spartanburgers going to High A South Atlantic League, Hickory to Low A Carolina League

Posted on July 26, 2024 by Mike McCann

With the move of the Rangers minor league affiliate from Kinston (Down East Wood Ducks) to Spartanburg (Hub City Spartanburgers), the Rangers have decided to move Hub City up to the High A South Atlantic League and move the Hickory Crawdads down to Low A Carolina League.  I can understand why they would want to have their new facility used for the higher level players and since the footprint of the two leagues overlaps, it doesn’t create any logistical issues there.

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