Pacific Coast League

The PCL is one of the oldest and strongest minor league circuits. Established as an independent operation in 1903, the league joined up with affiliated baseball in 1904.

Unique to the PCL was a classification of “Open”, an experiment conducted from 1952-57 to establish a minor league tier above Triple-A. The thought was that the PCL would become a third major league.

With the expiration of the Basic Agreement between MiLB and MLB after the 2020 season, the affiliated minor leagues were reorganized. The PCL was no more, replaced by the Triple-A West in 2021. The league was renamed back to the Pacific Coast League ahead of the 2022 season.