American Association of Professional Baseball


The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by organized baseball. The league's level of play is comparable to High-A in organized baseball. League offices are located in Moorhead, Minnesota, and Joshua Schaub is the current league commissioner. Though a separate legal entity, the league shared a commissioner and director of umpires with the Can-Am League during the latter league's existence. The American Association of Professional Baseball has 501(c)(6) tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. In 2020, as part of MLB's reorganization of the minor leagues, the American Association, Atlantic League, and Frontier League became official MLB Partner Leagues, joining MLB in promoting the sport across North America, particularly in areas not served by organized baseball.
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History

The American Association was founded in October 2005 when the St. Paul Saints, Lincoln Saltdogs, Sioux City Explorers, and Sioux Falls Canaries announced they were leaving the Northern League. Around the same time, the Central Baseball League announced it was disbanding after four seasons; the league's Fort Worth Cats, Shreveport-Bossier Sports, Pensacola Pelicans, Coastal Bend Aviators, and El Paso Diablos joined the four former Northern League teams and the expansion St. Joe Blacksnakes to form the AA as a ten-team league. The new league began play in 2006, with a 96-game schedule, since expanded to 100 games.
2008 saw the AA lose the Blacksnakes and Aviators, with the Grand Prairie AirHogs and Wichita Wingnuts joining in their place. Following the 2010 season, four more Northern League franchises left the Northern League as its stability came into question and joined the AA. In 2011 and 2012 the league went through a significant shift. Fort Worth had its membership revoked and moved to the North American League, while Shreveport and Pensacola both relocated. The Pelicans moved to Amarillo, Texas, and became the Amarillo Sox while Shreveport, who had changed their name to the Shreveport-Bossier Captains, moved to Laredo, Texas and became the Laredo Lemurs. The AA also reorganized into North, Central, and South Divisions; Fargo-Moorhead, Sioux Falls, St. Paul, and Winnipeg comprised the North, Gary SouthShore, Kansas City, Lincoln, Sioux City, and Wichita the Central, and Amarillo, El Paso, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, and Shreveport the South Division. The top finishers in each of the three divisions earned automatic playoff berths, with the team with the next-best record that was not a division winner receiving a wild card spot.
For the 2012 season, the AA began interleague play with the Can-Am League. The two leagues were both headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, and both had Miles Wolff as their commissioner. This was similar to interleague play in MLB, but the AA and Can-Am League were separate legal entities and had separate playoffs and championships.
At the end of the 2013 season, due to the Tucson Padres relocating to El Paso, the Diablos suspended operations. The team was eventually revived and relocated, operating as the Joplin Blasters in the South Division. The Blasters ceased operations after the conclusion of the 2016 season.
On November 19, 2015, Miles Wolff announced that there would no longer be interleague play. It also was announced that the AA would become a 12-team league, with the Amarillo Thunderheads and Grand Prairie AirHogs operating as a joint team called the Texas AirHogs, playing 25 games in Amarillo and 25 games in Grand Prairie Shortly before the 2017 season, the Laredo Lemurs withdrew from the league. They were temporarily replaced by the Salina Stockade from the Pecos League for the season. The AirHogs played in Grand Prairie full-time in 2017, and the Cleburne Railroaders joined the league the same season.
The Chicago Dogs joined the league in 2018 The league, now composed of twelve teams, again realigned, with Chicago, Fargo-Moorhead, Gary SouthShore, Sioux Falls, St. Paul, and Winnipeg in the North Division, and Cleburne, Kansas City, Lincoln, Sioux City, Texas, and Wichita in the South Division. The Milwaukee Milkmen joined for 2019, replacing the Wichita Wingnuts, which folded in large part due to the demolition of Lawrence-Dumont Stadium and their eventual replacement by the affiliated Wichita Wind Surge.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league announced that 6 of its 12 clubs would play an abbreviated 60-game season beginning on July 3, 2020. Five stadiums were used for gameplay: Sioux Falls Stadium, Newman Outdoor Field, Franklin Field, Impact Field, and CHS Field. Players from non-participating teams had the opportunity to be drafted by one of the six active clubs. A limited number of fans were allowed to attend games, in accordance with local government guidelines and restrictions.
The 2021 season saw the league lose both the AirHogs, who dropped out of the league, and the Saints, who moved to affiliated ball as the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. Joining the league in 2021 were the Kane County Cougars, who were dropped from affiliated ball during the 2021 minor league reorganization, as well as the Houston Apollos, who were a traveling team for the 2021 campaign.
In May 2021, the league announced the approval of Lake Country Baseball, based in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, as a new member of the league starting in 2022. Construction commenced later that summer on a new stadium and multi-use indoor sports facility, which opened for play on May 20, 2022, as Wisconsin Brewing Company Park. The team selected the name Lake Country DockHounds, after hosting an online name the team contest.
With the DockHounds joining the league for the 2022 season, the AA again realigned its divisions. Going away from the prior North/South divisions, the league decided to go with East/West divisions. The league placed Chicago, Cleburne, Gary SouthShore, Kane County, Lake Country, and Milwaukee in the East Division; and Fargo-Moorhead, Kansas City, Lincoln, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, and Winnipeg in the West Division. The league also changed the playoff format. The top four teams in each division make the playoffs, and the team in each division with the best record is allowed to choose their first-round opponent from the remaining three division teams.

Business model

The AA typically recruits college and former major and minor league players. Some former college players who join the AA chose not to enter or were not picked in the MLB draft, but want to continue to play professionally, be seen by major league scouts, and possibly get signed by MLB organizations. Former affiliated-league players that played at all levels of organized baseball sometimes join the AA after being released, injured, or having other circumstances as a way to be seen by scouts from MLB organizations and potentially be re-signed. For example, David Peralta was signed in 2004 as a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, but suffered injuries and was released in 2009. He resurrected his career as an outfielder with teams such as the AA's Wichita Wingnuts and Amarillo Sox in 2012 and 2013, then became a starting outfielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Other former MLB players join the AA to stay involved in baseball after their MLB career, often as coaches and managers.

Players

Rosters are limited to 25 players. A maximum of six may be veterans, and minimum of five must be rookies or LS-1. Of the remaining players, a maximum of six may be LS-4, and up to two of the LS-4 players may have LS-5 status.
Rookie: A player with less than one year of service.
LS-1: A player with fewer than two years of service.
LS-2: A player with fewer than three years of service.
LS-3: A player with fewer than four years of service.
LS-4: A player with fewer than five years of service.
LS-5: A player with less than 6 years of service.
Veteran: A player with six or more years of service. If a player has six or more years of service but has not reached the age of 26 by September 1 of that season, he will be considered an LS-4, while if he has not reached the age of 24 by September 1 of that season, he will be considered an LS-3.

Teams

League timeline


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Former teams

Champions

TeamNumberYears
Winnipeg Goldeyes32012, 2016, 2017
Kansas City T-Bones/Monarchs32018, 2021, 2023
Fort Worth Cats22006, 2007
Kane County Cougars22024, 2025
Sioux Falls Canaries12008
Lincoln Saltdogs12009
Shreveport-Bossier Captains12010
Grand Prairie AirHogs12011
Gary SouthShore RailCats12013
Wichita Wingnuts12014
Laredo Lemurs12015
St. Paul Saints12019
Milwaukee Milkmen12020
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks12022

All-Star Game

The AA hosted an annual All-Star Game from 2006 to 2010 and has continued to do so intermittently since then. The league's first All-Star game was played in El Paso, Texas, on July 18, 2006, which pitted a team of AA All-Stars against an All-Star team from the Can-Am League. Its current format pits the all-stars from each division against each other, except for the 2017 edition, which featured another tilt against the Can-Am League. There was no All-Star game held in 2011–2013, 2015, 2018, 2020, or 2021.

Player of the Year

  • 2006 – Pichi Balet,
  • 2007 – Jorge Alvarez,
  • 2008 – Beau Torbert,
  • 2009 – Greg Porter,
  • 2010 – Beau Torbert,
  • 2011 – Lee Cruz,
  • 2012 – Nic Jackson,
  • 2013 – C. J. Ziegler,
  • 2014 – Brent Clevlen,
  • 2015 – Vinny DiFazio,
  • 2016 – Nate Samson,
  • 2017 – Josh Romanski,
  • 2018 – Jose Sermo,
  • 2019 – Keon Barnum,
  • 2020 – Adam Brett Walker II,
  • 2021 – Adam Brett Walker II,
  • 2022 – Max Murphy,
  • 2023 – Chris Herrmann,
  • 2024 – Jacob Teter
  • 2025 – Calvin Estrada

League attendance

Attendance records

Season: 413,482, St. Paul, 2016
Game: 13,406, El Paso, July 4, 2011