Texas Rangers' high-A affiliate to be in Kinston in 2017

The Texas Rangers' high-A affiliate will apparently be at Kinston, North Carolina, in the Carolina League beginning in 2017, after the Kinston City Council unanimously approved a lease agreement between the city and Rangers Kinston, LLC, for a new stadium.

The final step in this process will be for Minor League Baseball to approve the agreement, which would allow the Rangers to move the Wilmington Blue Rocks, which they have agreed to purchase, to Kinston.  That would put the Rangers back in the Carolina League, where they had their high-A affiliate from 2011-14, with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

Currently, the Rangers' high-A affiliate is High Desert, in the California League.  This is viewed as one of the least desirable high-A affiliates, due to the league, and in particular, the High Desert park, being extremely hitter-friendly, which makes player development, particularly for pitchers, more difficult.

If all goes according to plan, it appears the Rangers will own their own Carolina League affiliate where their high-A club will be playing in 2017.