Update: The Spartanburg Post and Courier is reporting that the Down East Wood Ducks will move to South Carolina as early as the 2025 season
Update:
The Spartanburg Post and Courier is reporting that the Down East Wood Ducks will move to South Carolina as early as the 2025 season.
Previous Story:
Texas Rangers Minor League Baseball Affiliates Hickory Crawdads and Down East Wood Ducks to Join Diamond Baseball Holdings
Arlington, TX - May 23, 2023 - The Texas Rangers today announced the sale of the Hickory Crawdads and Down East Wood Ducks to Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH), an organization that owns and operates select Minor League clubs affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB).
"The Texas Rangers are excited to enter into this agreement with Diamond Baseball Holdings," said Neil Leibman, Texas Rangers President of Business Operations and Chief Operating Officer. "We thank the staffs of the Crawdads and Wood Ducks for their outstanding efforts during our ownership, and we look forward to continuing our close relationship with both affiliates going forward. Pat Battle, Peter Freund, and the rest of the DBH team will be great partners to the Rangers organization through our ongoing affiliation with both clubs, and we have great confidence in their stewardship."
“We are thrilled to welcome the Crawdads and Wood Ducks to the DBH family," said Pat Battle and Peter Freund, Executive Chairman and CEO, respectively, of DBH. "Thank you to the Texas Rangers for entrusting us with the continuing success and growth of both of these clubs. We look forward to our partnership with the Rangers organization."
The Crawdads and Wood Ducks will maintain their current front office staffs, led by Crawdads General Manager Douglas Locascio and Wood Ducks General Manager Jon Clemmons, respectively.
Both clubs will remain affiliates of the Texas Rangers under the ownership of DBH. DBH aims to elevate fan and player experiences, deepen local and national engagement, and further the minor league baseball ecosystem through direct partnership with MLB on opportunities like sponsorship and merchandising as well as creating best-in-class facilities for player development.
The transaction has been reviewed and approved by MLB Professional Development Leagues and is expected to close promptly, subject to the satisfaction of other standard closing conditions.
The Hickory Crawdads have been a Texas Rangers minor league affiliate since 2009, first in the Low A South Atlantic League and since 2021 in the High-A Carolina League. The Rangers purchased the franchise in October 2017. The Down East Wood Ducks became a Rangers affiliate in 2017 in the High A Carolina League after Texas purchased the team in August 2016, when that franchise was transferred from the California League. The Wood Ducks were reclassified to the Low-A South Atlantic League in 2021.
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