The Hickory Crawdads are joining the newly created High-A East League. The 12-team league was announced Friday in a statement from Major League Baseball.
The High-A East League will be made up of a five team Northern Division and a seven team Southern Division.
The Crawdads will be part of the Southern contingent which will also include the Asheville Tourists (Astros), Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox), Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates), Greenville Drive (Red Sox), Rome Braves (Braves), and the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays). The Northern Division will feature the Aberdeen IronBirds (Orioles), Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets), Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies), Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees), and the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals).
The Winston-Salem Dash will be the Crawdads closest opponent in the league with a distance of just under 74 miles separating the teams. The Asheville Tourists are 5 miles farther from ballpark to ballpark.
The 120 teams that make up the new-look minor league system were confirmed earlier this week as teams signed their Professional Development License agreements with Major League Clubs. The ‘Dads announced on Tuesday that the team had formally accepted the invitation to become the Ranger’s new High-A affiliate.
The Crawdads had been members of the Low-A South Atlantic League since their arrival in town in 1993.