Brewers reach Triple-A deal with San Antonio Missions

After finding themselves the team left standing in the game of Triple-A musical chairs the last time around, the Brewers are making sure they don’t get stuck in a less than ideal situation once again, announcing a Player Development Contract with the new-to-AAA San Antonio Missions today.

As JP noted the other day, there were a few options on the table for the Brewers for a Triple-A partner, with the current owners of Colorado Springs moving the team to San Antonio (and the former Helena rookie league team moving to the Springs). The other options — Fresno and Nashville — both had the benefit of Not Being Colorado Springs, but also had some drawbacks (travel time to Milwaukee from Fresno, and some possible lingering bad feelings with how the first Nashville relationship ended).

It was assumed that the Texas Rangers would jump at the chance to add San Antonio as their Triple-A team, but it’s possible concerns about San Antonio’s older-than-preferred stadium gave the Rangers some slight reservations about jumping into a deal now. They likely would have been more interested if the Missions were building a new stadium, but it sounds like renovations to the existing facilities are more likely, possibly providing another investment opportunity for Brewers owner Mark Attanasio.

It’s only a two-year contract, so the Brewers may find themselves in need of a new business partner in a couple years if the Rangers decide to jump in once improvements are made in San Antonio. Still, the existing relationship between the Brewers and the ownership group that’s moving the team from Colorado Springs to San Antonio has proven to be successful, which no doubt helped in the negotiations.

The Missions will play in the Pacific Coast League and start next season against Dodgers affiliate Oklahoma City.