A Hillsboro Hops banner is displayed outside the stadium before the home opener.
Courtesy of Hillsboro Hops
COVID-19 has led to delays and uncertainty for many professional sports leagues and their fans, but the Hillsboro Hops enjoyed good news Wednesday.
The Arizona Diamondbacks will keep their affiliation with Hops, and they’re elevating the Washington County minor league team from short-season Single-A to full-schedule High Single-A.
That means the Hops will play 132 games, including 66 at Ron Tonkin Field, rather than 76 the next time baseball manages a full season.
Major League Baseball officials have been looking to shrink the size of the minor-league system to save money and centralize control of the player development process. They’re trimming the number of minor-league affiliates each MLB club can have, with the biggest changes coming at the lowest levels. Going forward, each MLB team will have one Triple-A, one Double-A, one High Single-A and one Low Single-A affiliate.
Up to 43 clubs were at risk of losing their MLB affiliation, and some communities could lose their teams entirely. While Hillsboro and Eugene both got positive news Wednesday — along the Hops’ elevation, the San Francisco Giants will keep the Eugene Emeralds in their system as the Low Single-A affiliate — the Giants also cut ties with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.
It’s unclear what will happen next for the Volcanoes, which had been the Giants’ short-season Single-A team since 1997.
The Hops’ season is scheduled to begin in April, though COVID-19 has put the precise timing of all professional sports in doubt for now.