Minor League Baseball is going through a lot of changes in 2021, but the Pittsburgh Pirates will have the same four full-season affiliates. It was announced on Wednesday afternoon that the Indianapolis Indians, Altoona Curve, Bradenton Marauders and Greensboro Grasshoppers will remain the four full-season affiliates of the Pirates. There is one major difference however. Bradenton is now the Low-A club, while Greensboro moves to High-A. That will help with travel costs/time when players can move from Pirate City, across town in Bradenton, to Low-A ball much easier than before. There will be no teams between the GCL and Low-A in 2021 and beyond, eliminating two short-season levels, where the Pirates had clubs in Bristol and Morgantown over the last few years. The DSL/GCL remain the same, though we could see an extra GCL team in the future for the Pirates. As of right now, they have seven affiliates.
Here’s the entire list of MLB affiliates confirmed from Baseball America.
