Different Levels Of Minor League Baseball

MLB Minor League levels are Triple A, Double A, High A, and Single A classes. Players can be promoted or demoted based on their skills and playing quality.

There are thirty Major franchises affiliated with four Minor league affiliations making 120 MiLB teams in total. They are also referred to as the farm teams or farm leagues for the Major clubs.

Apart from these, there are additional Minor leagues for Rookie and Foreign divisions. The Rookie division has two complex leagues in Arizona and Florida.

The Arizona Complex League (ACL) has 18 teams while Florida Complex League has another 16 rookie franchises affiliated with their respective Major League Clubs. Similarly, the Foreign minor league contains the Dominican Summer League (DSL) as the only international extension of MLB.

Since each MLB franchise has taken at least one DSL Minor team under their wing, with a few of them even leading two of them, there are 47 DSL minor league teams playing in Boca Chica.

The following table includes the four official Minor League baseball levels;

Minor League High A teams consists of Asheville Tourists, Fort Wayne TinCaps, Brooklyn Cyclones, and 27 others. High A level is ranked third among the MiLB levels.

There are thirty affiliations from each Major League club divided into three regions of High A. They are Midwest, Northwest, and South Atlantic Leagues.

Formerly known as the Class A-Advanced, the High A teams compete in three regional leagues. Their thirty affiliated MLB teams are further divided into two groups of American and National Leagues organized under East, West, and Central Regions.

The thirty MLB teams of High-A are also classified into the three regional Leagues of Midwest, Northwest, and South Atlantic. The Midwest and South Atlantic region governs twelve teams each, while the North has six teams under their jurisdiction.

Below is the tabular representation of each High-A Minor league team with their MLB affiliations and regions.

Minor League Single A teams contain Fayetteville Woodpeckers, Clearwater Threshers, Carolina Mudcats, and 27 more. Single A is the lowest level in MiLB.

The thirty Major League clubs have one minor franchise competing in the Single A division of MiLB. The farm players sent to this level have the lowest stats among the recruits.

They can get promoted to other higher levels in the following year if they perform well over the season. Major league clubs follow the results of each player to decide on their promotion or demotion before a season begins.

The Single A was formerly called Low A Class in the Minor leagues, later rebranded by MLB after 2022. It contains three regional leagues namely Florida State, Carolina, and California League.

Below are all the thirty Minor League teams at the Single-A level with their affiliate MLB teams. They are divided into American League and National Leagues.

Minor League Double A teams are the second highest level in the MiLB after Triple A. Tulsa Drillers and Bowie Baysox are some Minor clubs in this division.

The Double A division is officially known as the Class AA level in the Minor League. The thirty MLB clubs have one team each in this Class as they compete in the various MiLB leagues.

They are further divided into the three regional leagues of this division namely Texas Leagues, Eastern League, and Southern League.  Furthermore, Texas and Southern have two more categories for North and South in each region. While the Eastern has Northeast and Southwest regions.

Players farmed in this level can get upgraded to the higher level or go down to High-A depending on their stats over the season. If they get promoted, they are one step closer to getting into the 40-man roster for the Major League teams.

The following table lists all thirty minor league teams in competing in the Double-A level. They are further classified along with their Major League clubs of AL and NL.

Minor League Triple A teams has been the highest level of the Minor League division in 1946. It has 30 MiLB teams including Buffalo Bisons and Charlotte Knights.

The thirty Major League clubs each have a minor league franchise in the Triple A level. They operate under the Independent League and Pacific Coast League.

The Triple-A level is officially called Class AAA, where the thirty teams from all the MLB clubs compete in the Minor league tournaments. After MLB, Triple is the most popular game division in American baseball.

Players and Coaches from the Class AAA are often selected by their MLB teams and officials for other post-season tournaments as well. The International League has twenty Minor League teams under its jurisdiction while the Pacific Coast monitors the remaining ten.

While the current Triple A division consists of American teams only, Canadian and Mexican teams had also played under this level in the past.

Here are all the Triple A Minor League teams along with their respective MLB team affiliations.

Levels Of Baseball Before MLB

The levels of baseball before MLB goes lower from Triple A, Double A, High A, and Single A. There are four levels in the Minor leagues before entering the MLB.

After a player gets drafted by the Major League teams, they are allotted to one of the four levels depending on their records. Those in the Triple A gets faster upgrades to the Majors.

Likewise, players in the lower leagues can climb the ladder or get signed by other teams as free agents.