Giants announce Triple-A affiliation with Sacramento

Sep 18, 2014 - 9:25 PM San Francisco, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - The San Francisco Giants announced a two-year player development contract with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League on Thursday.

Sacramento, which was previously Oakland's Triple-A affiliate for 15 years, will begin its partnership with the Giants at the start of the 2015 season.

"It was a difficult decision to move our affiliate, but ultimately we felt that the proximity of the River Cats to San Francisco was critical to the development of our players," Giants president Larry Baer said. "We look forward to working with the River Cats organization to continue to deliver a top baseball experience to our players and the fans."

The River Cats won 11 division titles and four PCL championships during the 15-year stint with the Athletics.

Sacramento joins a minor league system that includes the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Double-A), San Jose Giants (Single-A Advanced), Augusta GreenJackets (Single-A), and the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (Short Season).

San Francisco was previously affiliated with the Fresno Grizzlies.