The Rocket City Trash Pandas announced Wednesday that they have been offered a Professional Development License as the Double-A Minor League Baseball (MiLB) affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels in Major League Baseball’s (MLB) new player development structure.

The Professional Development License from the Angels is offered as a 10-year contract to run through 2030. This will position the Trash Pandas as one of the 120 affiliated teams in the restructured MiLB setup.

Each MLB team will now have four affiliates: Triple-A, Double-A, High A and Low A.

Additionally, MiLB operations will be handled out of the MLB headquarters in New York.

“When we started talks to purchase the Mobile BayBears and move them to Rocket City, one of the most attractive aspects of the deal was their affiliation with the Angels, an organization I have admired as long as I’ve been in baseball,” stated Trash Pandas president and CEO Ralph Nelson. “We were excited to extend that relationship for four years following the 2018 season and equally thrilled to know it will now last even longer.”

The Rocket City Trash Pandas are set to play their inaugural season at Madison’s new, state-of-the-art Toyota Field in 2021.

“The Angels have one of the elite player development systems in our game and the Trash Pandas are proud to be members of the family,” Nelson added.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn