Minor to Major. Team Proximity and Namesake. Laid Claims. Region Ball. Outlands and the Farms.

Affiliates by NAMESAKE:
Red Sox, Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Braves, Cardinals, Tigers, Giants, Rockies and Brewers is what I got.
So, that's 13 minor teams for 10 major clubs.

Pawtucket Red Sox in Rhode Island
And the Reds Sox in Salem, Virginia
Iowa Cubs
Gwinnett Braves
And Rome, Braves.  And Mississippi Braves.
Binghamton Mets
Reading Fightin Phils
Springfield Cardinals in Missouri.
Connecticut Tigers
San Jose Giants
Grand Junction Rockies
Helena Brewers

The Spokane Indians (Texas Rangers) and Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates) are different with the name attachment altogether.

The Boston franchise of the Sox have wrapped their claims cornering New England.  What a good move.  A claim laid since 2009.  The Cubs and Red Sox have a minor team with namesake straddling their home state.  Is Detroit baseball trying to stretch claim to the coast?  Milwaukee out to spread out territory in Montana and Tennessee?  Were the Reds and White Sox trying the same in the past with their business moves?  Did the Reds try to do that in the past with the Vermont Reds living in BoSox territory?  Atlanta lays strong claim, and in close proximity to the Big Show, with their minor teams keeping the name of Braves in the form of straddling two adjacent statistical metropolitan areas of Atlanta. 

2 MLB teams have 2 minor league teams to share their name (when not considering other foreign or development leagues (ie. Arizona and Venezuela).
Many teams, like the Reds in the case with Louisville, have a team straddling their state also.  The Ohio River is shared.



What do you think of this graphic out by Google (July 2014)?

Sports teams like the Saints lay claim to Mississippi and the Braves (and maybe even a bigger dose of the Falcons?) sharing more of the A logo with 'Bama.
The Bills have a good claim of the inner-state outskirts of New York, one could see.
Other questions to explore when peaking at above map:  I've seen maps of Bronco claim to Montana, although probably not scientific.  Is Montana looking for a winner?  Seattle won the Superbowl.
Does Nevada feel like a cowpoke of Texas?  Instead of the sister city I drummed up, should it in part be the Las Vegas Cowboys as a sister city?: (Click) NFL Sister Cities post

NYC emmigrants in Florida seem strong on their retirement get-away plans.  Chicago, Detroit and Toronto's south refuse of play.
Take a look at minor baseball in the Florida cities of the FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE:

St. Lucie Mets
Tampa Yankees
Lakeland Flying Tigers
Daytona Cubs
Palm Beach Cardinals
Dunedin Blue Jays

Development teams in the ARIZONA LEAGUE have major namesakes for all of their teams. There are other leagues that operate like this

Look at the little bear walking eastward from Iowa to the coast of Illinois.

Is Detroit laying a claim to a coast far away a stretch.  Are there a ton of Detroit emmigrants in Connecticut or NYC or something?  I'm talking more aesthetically of course instead of business or no thought at all.  In looking at it, the lineage of the minor league franchise has always had big league namesakes.
Many teams straddle their areas to sure-up their territory.  Or in a northeast accent, "Shore-up" their territory with affiliation.   Let me attempt some:
Dayton to Cinci, Toledo to Detroit, Toronto to Buffalo, Angels to Inland Empire, Mahoning Valley to Cleveland, Memphis to St. Louis, WV to Pitt, Potomac to D.C.

If I were a mathematician or not so lazy, I'd crunch the numbers.  For practicality purposes, not all locations are going to be so much about proximity to the farm.  In Cincinnati, we eat but do not grow our bananas here.  How many Triple A farm clubs are close to the main metropolis?
Plenty more with regional and not-so-regional proximities.  For instance, Miami's triple-A is New Orleans, as of now.  Both coastal.  Both decorated with pelicans.

click --- List_of_Minor_League_Baseball_leagues_and_teams

Teams like the St. Paul Saints and the Kansas City T-Bones share towns of major league hubs.  It'd be neato to come up with some maps for all of this jibber jabber succotash.


See more expansion and relocation talk for football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer on my blog (starting in Feb 2014, see table of contents/archive):  Major League/Pro Expansion <CLICK> http://prosportsexpansion.blogspot.com/ 

And please feel free to contribute your two cents with mine.