Round Rock accepts invitation to become Texas Rangers affiliate

After months of waiting, the Round Rock Express and Texas Rangers are affiliated again for the foreseeable future. 

Great news broke Tuesday as the Round Rock Express have officially accepted their invitation to become the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate.

The MiLB affiliate and the Texas Rangers have come to terms on a 10-year agreement that will keep Round Rock within the organization until 2030.

https://twitter.com/RRExpress/status/1359170755225931781?s=20

The Texas Rangers and Round Rock are in it for the long haul.

For the Texas Rangers, this is a sigh of relief.

After shifting from Round Rock to Nashville before the 2019 season, they return back to the Lone Star State for the long haul.

Round Rock General Manager Tim Jackson expressed his excitement on the reunion.

"“We look forward to the long-term stability that the new PDL provides and are excited to continue to highlight Round Rock as the top market in MiLB. We are thrilled to reunite with Jon Daniels, Mike Daly and the rest of the Rangers front office staff that we enjoyed a great relationship with from 2011 to 2018.”"

The Houston Astros had agreed to terms with the Express in 2019, but dropped the club because Astros ownership wanted full control of their minor league affiliates.

The Round Rock Express and CEO Reid Ryan, formerly of the Astros, decided against the sale of the team to the Astros, and were subsequently dropped for the Sugar Land Skeeters.

Texas Rangers Assistant General Manager Mike Daly spoke about the Rangers relationship with the Express ownership.

"“We have a wonderful history with the Express and strong relationships with their leadership group. We are fortunate future Rangers will play in front of great fans at Dell Diamond and be part of the Central Texas community on their way to Arlington.”"

The Texas Rangers now have their two upper-tier levels of the minor leagues within hours of Globe Life Field, allowing easy access for promoting and demoting players within the organization.

The Texas Rangers farm system now includes the Round Rock Express, Double-A Frisco RoughRiders, High-A Hickory  Crawdads and Low-A Down East Wood Ducks.

It is baseball time in Round Rock, Texas, once again!