Columbia Fireflies find new MLB parent club
The Columbia Fireflies have a new Major League Baseball affiliate.
The Fireflies will be the new Class A club of Kansas City Royals beginning in 2021, as all 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates were released Wednesday afternoon. The Royals’ Class A affiliate had been the Wilmington Blue Rocks in Delaware, but that team will now be affiliated with the Nationals. The Royals’ Low-A team was in Lexington, Kentucky but wasn’t given an invitation.
“The Royals have an outstanding farm system and we watched them beat up on us the past two seasons,” Fireflies president John Katz said. “They have a first-class organization. Their coaches and players that have come to Segra Park as visitors have been first class, and we’re looking forward to getting them into the home dugout.”
Katz said the agreement between the Fireflies and Royals will be for 10 years. In the past, affiliates could change every two to four years.
The team on the field at Segra Park should be more competitive on a yearly basis. Kansas City historically has a strong farm system and won the 2018 and 2019 South Atlantic League championships.
Bobby Witt Jr., the second overall pick in the 2019 draft, could be part of next year’s roster. Asa Lacy, who went fourth overall in the 2020 draft, also has a chance to be part of the team this season.
The Fireflies will be one of two Class A affiliates for the Royals, with the other beings Quad Cities (Iowa). Columbia will likely be the club’s Low-A affiliate. The team had been in the South Atlantic League, but that might change with the new structure. Northwest Arkansas will be the Double-A affiliate and Omaha the Triple-A.
Columbia had been the home to the Mets’ Class A club since 2016 after it moved from Savannah, Georgia. In 2018, the Fireflies and Mets extended their Player Development Contract through the 2020 season.
The Fireflies will be one of three teams in South Carolina to undergo an affiliate change. The Charleston RiverDogs will be a Tampa Bay Rays affiliate after previously being with the New York Yankees. Augusta GreenJackets, located in North Augusta, is moving from the San Francisco Giants to the Atlanta Braves.
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin was enthusiastic about the new tie-in with the Royals.
The city of Columbia is closely connected to the Class A club, as the city owns the $37 million Segra Park that opened in 2016, and is part of the BullStreet District development. The ballpark is part of the nearly $100 million in public funding the city has committed to the BullStreet site.
“They have a rich tradition,” Benjamin said of the Royals, who won the World Series in 2015. “I’ve already had a dialogue with the mayor of Kansas City (Quinton Lucas) about our excitement in this. Kansas City has a rich history with the Royals, and an even deeper history when it comes to Negro League Baseball.”
The national Negro Leagues Baseball museum is located in Kansas City.
Minor League Baseball is expected to undergo big changes for the upcoming season after the Professional Baseball Agreement expired in 2020. Each of the 30 MLB teams will now have only four minor-league affiliates, and there will only be 120 minor-league teams instead of 160.
In June, MiLB officially canceled the season for its teams during the COVID-19 pandemic. That meant the Columbia Fireflies, Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Greenville Drive, Charleston RiverDogs, Augusta GreenJackets and more than 150 other teams nationally wouldn’t play baseball .
Major League Baseball eventually came back and played without fans in stands until the postseason. That was never an option for minor league teams, which need spectators in the stadium in order to thrive. Last year, the Fireflies drew 245,522 fans and the Pelicans had 226,247. The Fireflies have ranked in the Top 25 in minor league merchandise sales every year since the team moved to Columbia from Savannah, Georgia in 2016.
Katz is hopeful to have fans, even with limited attendance, when the season begins in April — and maybe at full or close to capacity by season’s end. This week, the University of South Carolina announced it will allow 2,100 fans per game for college baseball at Founders Park.
Katz said they will work with guidelines set forth with Center for Disease Control and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control for guidelines and best possible safety practices as far as spectators. The park has hosted many events over the summer and fall.
The State reporter Chris Trainor contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 12:09 PM.
