Say goodbye to the Arkansas Travelers and hello to the Mobile BayBears

Jerry Dipoto steals more Angels assets??  The Arkansas Travelers have been affiliated with the Angels since 2001.  Today they announced they had signed a two-year player development contract with the Seattle Mariners.  Say goodbye to pitcher-friendly Dickey-Stephens ballpark.

The Jackson Generals were the former AA team for Seattle and they are now affiliated with the Diamondbacks.  That leaves the Mobile BayBears who were formerly affiliated with the Diamondbacks as the new affiliate for  the Angels (details coming on terms).  Assuming no league changes, that would move the Angels AA team from the Texas League to the Southern League where they would join teams like the Twins, Cubs, Marlins, Braves, Reds, and others.

The BayBears play in Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.  The stadium isn't exactly a hitter's dream, but it does have above average HR rates, especially if you are lefty with some power since the right field fence is only 310 feet away.  The stadium ranks 7th (out of 10) in the Southern League for hits per game, and 6th in homeruns per game.  It's not nearly as extreme as Dickey-Stephens on the pitcher-friendly aspect, so Angels prospects (mainly the pitchers) will now have a bit less of a shock moving from AA to AAA.

If you want to jump on the bandwagon early, the BayBears have a pretty cool logo.  You can click on it above to be taken to their team store.

Also, in case you were wondering, minor league players stay with their organization.  All those dudes on the Travelers will need to go shopping for blue socks and accessories now and save all that red for when they make it to The Show.

Welcome to the organization BayBears!!

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Hank Aaron Ballpark in Mobile, Alabama