Arizona Complex League

History

Arizona League

The league began play in 1988 as the Arizona League (AZL) on an experimental basis with four teams playing a 60-game schedule—the teams were affiliated with the Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and a cooperative between the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners. Games were scheduled in the morning in order to make sure the league did not compete with the Phoenix Firebirds of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

The Phoenix Diamondbacks debuted in 1996, the first affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks to start playing professional baseball, two years before their parent club joined Major League Baseball. A crowd of 6,124 attended the Diamondbacks' first game on June 25, 1996, a 15–7 loss to the Phoenix Athletics. A number of local dignitaries were at the game, including Buck Showalter and Jerry Colangelo.

The Colorado Rockies started their rookie league team a year before starting major league play as well in 1992, sharing a team with the Cubs. The team, composed of the Rockies' first-ever draft picks, received a different level of notoriety than the Diamondbacks for their first rookie league game: as the players wore either Rockies jerseys or Cubs jerseys, the team did not have their uniform pants ready at the start of the season, and had to borrow pants from the Cubs.

Between 1998 and 2000 an unaffiliated team composed of young players from the Mexican League played out of the Tucson Electric Park spring training complex, in part to add a fourth team to a southern division. Three Tucson-based teams (the Mexican All-Stars, the Diamondbacks, and the Rockies) would leave the league after the 2000 season, largely due to travel concerns, followed by the White Sox two years later. All three teams later relocated their spring training complexes to the Phoenix metropolitan area, and the Diamondbacks and White Sox reinstated their rookie league teams.

The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.

Arizona Complex League

Prior to the 2021 season, in continuation of MLB's reorganization of the minor leagues, the two US-based complex leagues were renamed, with the Arizona League becoming the Arizona Complex League (ACL).

For 2025, the league consists of 17 teams. Beginning in 2024, the schedule was changed from a season which ran from late-June through late-August to a season which runs from early-May through late-July. This change also made it so the league would no longer feature players drafted in the current year's draft, which in 2021 was changed to take place during the All-Star Weekend in mid-July.

Teams

Teams in the league are not referred to by their home city, but simply by their parent club's name. A prefix of ACL (previously AZL or Arizona League) is typically used to differentiate the team from its parent club and other farm teams with the same nickname. City names have been used previously instead of a prefix, such as with the Peoria Padres and Peoria Mariners. Franchises that field more than one team use differentiating suffixes, typically based on team colors (e.g. Blue and Gold). no major league club fields more than one ACL team.

Past teams

• Arizona League Cardinals (1989–1994)
  • Became the Gulf Coast League Cardinals in 1995
• Arizona League Mariners/Red Sox (1988)
  • Split into two teams in 1989, the Arizona League Mariners and the Gulf Coast League Red Sox
• Tucson Mexican All-Stars (1998–2000)
• Arizona League Rockies (1993–2000)
• Arizona League Rockies/Cubs (1992)
  • Split into two teams in 1993, the Arizona League Rockies and Gulf Coast League Cubs
• Arizona League Royals 1 and Arizona League Royals 2 (2003)
  • The Arizona League Royals operated as two teams for one season

Champions

Main article: List of Arizona Complex League champions

League champions have been determined by different means since the league's formation in 1988. Prior to 1998, the league champion was the team with best record over the course of the season. Since 1998, the season has been split into two half-seasons. From 1998 to 2008, the teams with the best records in each half faced off to decide the league champion. If the same team won both halves, they were automatically crowned champions (only one team accomplished this, the 2005 Arizona League Giants).

In 2009, the league split into two divisions, an alignment that was used through the 2012 season. The two teams in each division with the best record in each half-season played off for the division championship, and the winners advanced to the final. If the same team won their division in both halves, they advanced directly to the final.

From 2013 to 2019, the six teams who won their division in the first and second half of the season qualified for the playoffs. If a team won both halves, the next best team in that division by overall record qualified for the playoffs. The top two teams by overall record received a bye to the semifinals. All playoff games were single elimination, with the exception of a best-of-three final.

Since 2022, four teams—three division winners and one wild card team—have qualified for the playoffs seeded by winning percentage regardless of division standing, with seeds 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 playing in a single-game semi-final. A best-of-three series between the two semi-final winners follows to determine the league champion.

References

References

1. (2021). "The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book". Office of the Commissioner of Baseball.
2. "1988 Arizona League".
3. (February 19, 1988). "Rookie baseball league to begin play in Valley". Arizona Republic.
4. Brazzle, Ken. (July 26, 1996). "D’back rookies show potential to festive fans". Tucson Citizen.
5. "Big League, Big Time".
6. (June 24, 1992). "Rockies' team has rocky road in early going". Arizona Republic.
7. (March 13, 2020). "A Message From Pat O'Conner".
8. (June 30, 2020). "2020 Minor League Baseball Season Shelved".
9. "Arizona League Divisions". Minor League Baseball.
10. Cooper, J. J.. (February 13, 2024). "Arizona, Florida Complex League Schedules Changing For 2024".
11. Sanders, Jeff. (March 31, 2015). "Padres' minor league teams at a glance". San Diego Union Tribune.
12. (March 30, 2011). "Mariners’ minor-league teams".
13. "Playoff Procedures - MiLB.com Standings - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball".
14. "About the Arizona Complex League". Minor League Baseball.