At least one current Cubs affiliate will be a casualty of Minor League Baseball’s restructuring that will see more than 40 teams lose their MLB affiliation and dozens more change organizations. The assumption from the start was that the short-season Eugene Emeralds were at greatest risk given their location and the Northwest League’s move to full-season ball and that now appears to be the case.
While nothing has been officially announced at this point, the Ems have removed all the Cubs gear from their team store. The website still lists them as a Cubs affiliate, presumably because making those changes would be a much clearer signal to the world beyond Eugene that the relationship is being severed.