Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A,

Class A-Advanced High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

(created in 1990), and Class A. Teams in Class A Short Season played about 75 to 80 games per season, compared to the 130- to 140-game seasons of most professional baseball minor leagues. As part of the 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, Class A Short Season was eliminated along with its two leagues, the New York–Penn League and

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

. Nine of the 22 active short-season teams were organized into new leagues at the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

classification level.

History

In 1965, the Northern League of Class A started a 66-game season in late June, a departure from the league's previous "full season" schedules of about 120 games. In December 1965, the

announced that it would play an 85-game schedule starting in late June 1966, limiting teams to no more than two veteran players on their 25-man rosters. After playing the 1966 season with two short-season leagues, the New York–Penn League also moved to a short-season format, playing an 80-game schedule beginning in late June 1967. The three leagues continued to play short seasons through 1971. In February 1972, the Northern League folded, due to reduced support from both fans and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) teams, leaving the New York–Penn League and Northwest League as the only two short-season leagues. Both leagues operated annually through 2019. Class A Short Season was originally the fourth-highest level in the minor leagues; with the addition of

in 1990, Class A Short Season became fifth in the overall hierarchy: # Triple-A # Double-A # Class A-Advanced # Class A ("Full-Season A") # Class A Short Season ("Short-Season A") #

Rookie league Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Before the 2021 season, MLB restructured the minor leagues, temporarily discontinuing the use of historical league names within Minor League Baseball and permanently eliminating Class A Short Season. This effectively contracted Class A from having three levels to two, with Class A-Advanced and full-season Class A continuing on as "

" and "

Low-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for ...

", respectively.

Dispersal of Class A Short Season teams

When the classification was ended before the 2021 season, there were two leagues with a total of 22 active teams. Of the 14 active teams in the New York–Penn League: * four joined the MLB Draft League:

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were ...

, State College Spikes,

West Virginia Black Bears The West Virginia Black Bears are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Granville, West Virginia, and play their home games at Kendrick Family Ballpark, which is across the Monongahela River from Morga ...

, and Williamsport Crosscutters * three joined the High-A East league: Aberdeen IronBirds, Brooklyn Cyclones, and Hudson Valley Renegades * two joined the

Futures Collegiate Baseball League The Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league that began play in 2011. Entering the 2025 season, the league has two active franchises in Massachusetts, two in Connecticut, and one each in New Hampshire and ...

Vermont Lake Monsters The Vermont Lake Monsters are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Burlington, Vermont, United States, who were founded in 1994 as the Vermont Expos. They were members of Minor League Baseball, in the New York–Penn League (NYPL), ...

and Norwich Sea Unicorns * two joined the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League: Batavia Muckdogs and Auburn Doubledays * two folded: Staten Island Yankees,

Lowell Spinners The Lowell Spinners were a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. With Major Leagu ...

* one joined the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats are a professional baseball team based in Albany, New York. The ValleyCats compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the North Division in the Atlantic Conference. The team was established in 2002, along with the ...

Of the eight active teams in the Northwest League: * six joined the High-A West league: Eugene Emeralds,

Everett AquaSox The Everett AquaSox are a Minor League Baseball team in Everett, Washington. The team is a member of the Northwest League and is the High-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The AquaSox play their home games at Funko Field, which has a seatin ...

Hillsboro Hops The Hillsboro Hops are a Minor League Baseball team in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a city in the Portland metropolitan area. The Hops are members of the Northwest League and are the High-A affilia ...

, Spokane Indians, Tri-City Dust Devils, and

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bail ...

* one joined the independent Pioneer League:

Boise Hawks The Boise Hawks are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. Home games are played at Memorial Stadium in unincorporated Ada County, Idaho, near ...

* one joined the amateur Mavericks Independent Baseball League: Salem-Keizer Volcanoes

Purpose

Teams in short-season leagues played schedules of about 75 to 80 games, starting in mid-June and ending in early September, with only a few off-days during the season. The late start of the season was designed to allow

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

players to complete their college seasons in the spring, be selected in the MLB draft in June, signed, and then be immediately placed in a competitive league. Players in short-season leagues were a mixture of newly signed draftees who were considered more advanced than other draftees, and second-year pros who were not yet ready, or for whom there was not space, to move up the minor league hierarchy. Second-year pros were often assigned to "extended

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

" in Florida or Arizona during April and May, before reporting to their short-season leagues.

Notes

References

{{reflist, 30em Minor league baseball