2021 MiLB Schedule Reveal (plus quick refresher on new MiLB structure)

Yes, I'm still here. As long as there's baseball to talk about, Jayne and I will still be here. We hope that we can give you something to take your minds off the chaos that has run riot on society over the last year or so. The 2021 Minor League schedule is now out, but first, I want to put out a quick refresher on the changes that have come to Minor League Baseball.

In case you missed it, Minor League Baseball as we know it has been radically changed forever. The domestic short-season leagues are no longer affiliated with MLB clubs, and its member clubs have dispersed between the old Rookie leagues that have now been repurposed into summer leagues for college players and existing independent leagues that are now considered "MLB Partner Leagues," which means that these independent leagues are technically no longer independent from the Major League Baseball purview. The only "Rookie-level" minor league teams will be based out of the spring training and Dominican complexes.

All 30 MLB teams will have four affiliate clubs. For the Houston Astros, their organization ladder is as follows:

AAA: Sugar Land Skeeters (Triple-A West, East Division) 

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A Central, South Division; which is essentially the Texas League with two Pacific Coast League teams joining the league) 

Class A Advanced: Asheville Tourists (High-A East, South Division)

Class A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Low-A East, Central Division)

And then you have the complex leagues, which won't change.

Now, on to the schedule. All series will be six games in length, with Monday designated as an off-day for everyone for travel and safety purposes. 

AAA Opening Day is scheduled for April 8, with Sugar Land traveling to Reno. They will then head to Sacramento for six games before returning to Sugar Land for their home opener on April 22 against Salt Lake. AAA will have a 142-game season that finishes on September 21.

Double-A and both Class A leagues will have a 120-game season that starts May 4 and ends September 19. Corpus Christi welcomes San Antonio to Whataburger Field to kick off the 2021 season, while Asheville hosts the Brooklyn Cyclones. Fayetteville will begin their 2021 season on the road against the Carolina Mudcats.

Click each team's name to view their schedule.

Sugar Land

Corpus Christi

Asheville

Fayetteville

As the season gets closer, I'll try to put out a "Know the Team" series to get everyone familiar with each affiliate. And of course, all dates are subject to change.