The Double-A Mississippi Braves announced this week that they will leave Pearl, Mississippi, their hometown since 2005, after the 2024 season. The franchise will take up residence in their new home of Columbus, Georgia, beginning in 2025.
The move will almost certainly result in a rebrand, leaving affiliated Minor League Baseball with just 11 out of 120 teams named for their parent clubs, including the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, Syracuse Mets, and Worcester Red Sox; Double-A Springfield Cardinals; High-A South Bend Cubs; and Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays, Fredericksburg Nationals, Palm Beach Cardinals, Salem Red Sox, San Jose Giants, and St. Lucie Mets.
The relocated M-Braves, one of 29 clubs owned by rapidly expanding Diamond Baseball Holdings, will bring affiliated Minor League Baseball to Columbus, Georgia, for the first time since 2008, when the Class-A Columbus Catfish left after five seasons to become the Bowling Green HotRods.
