CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Indians today announced the organizational staff alignment within the Player Development System for the upcoming Minor League season.

The upcoming season marks the first year for Major League Baseball’s 120-team realignment of Minor League Baseball and Player Development systems. As a part of the realignment, all four full-season franchises from previous seasons remain part of the Cleveland family, with the only adjustment being Eastlake’s Lake County Captains becoming the Advanced Single-A affiliate and Lynchburg (VA) transitioning to Low-A. The realignment is designed to provide geographical synergy between Major League and Minor League affiliates while allowing fans to watch an organization’s players progress in their home markets. In addition, the realignment will increase player salaries, provide modernized facility upgrades, reduce travel, and improve amenities and working conditions for players and staff. 

Here is a snapshot of where Cleveland’s full-season affiliates fit within the MLB realignment plan:

AAA Columbus Clippers (Triple-A East, Midwest Div.)                      A Lake County Captains (High-A Central, East Division) 

AA Akron RubberDucks (Double-A Northeast, Southwest Div.)         A Lynchburg Hillcats (Low-A East, North Division)

The 2021 Minor League season is tentatively slated to begin on April 6 (Triple-A) and May 4 (remaining three levels) after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League campaign. All four full-season affiliate managers remain static from 2020 with Bowling Green, OH native ANDY TRACY again slated to be the Triple-A Columbus Skipper. ROUGLAS ODOR returns for another season guiding the Double-A Akron RubberDucks and GREG DiCENZO is scheduled to manage his first official game with the Single-A Lake County Captains. DENNIS MALAVÉ is slated to guide the Single-A Lynchburg Hillcats. JERRY OWENS (AZL), JESUS TAVEREZ (DSL1) and OMIR SANTOS (DSL2) are set to manage the short-season academy squads.