Ranking the Minor League Baseball Team Names Based on Affiliate

This is going to be an exciting week here at Hutch On Sports.

With much anticipation (at least on my part) for the upcoming baseball season, this week we're going to focus on the teams who hold the key to the future: The Minor Leagues.

Of course, all us die hard sports fans know what's truly great about Minor League Baseball. The crazy uniforms, the awesome promotions, cheap tickets, top prospects, a good ol' ball game and the best team names of any sport out there.

This week, in preparation for the upcoming season, I've decided to rank every single team by affiliates using a complex system that i'll keep to myself for now. Teams 16-30 will be featured this week and we see the top 15 next week. But for example, if the minor league team was the same name as its major league affiliate, they received one point. In this model, I used every teams AAA, AA, A+ (Advanced A), A- (Low A) and Rookie level teams. So without further to do, lets get it started at #30!

30. St. Louis Cardinals

AAA: Memphis Redbirds

AA: Springfield Cardinals

A+: Palm Beach Cardinals

A-: Peoria Chiefs

R: Johnson City Cardinals

The Cardinals are arguably the classiest teams in all of baseball, let alone professional sports. Therefore it's not a surprise to see the Cardinals stay at home with many of their minor league team names. Going crazy and all out isn't for everyone. They got a couple points for the Chiefs and they mixed it up a bit with the Redbirds, but when it comes to creativity the Cardinals fail miserably. Frankly, I don't think the Cardinals will give a damn at the end of the day. Which is what makes them so great.

29. Atlanta Braves

AAA: Gwinnett Braves

AA: Mississippi Braves

A+: Carolina Mudcats

A-: Rome Braves

R: Danville Braves

The Braves don't stray too far away from tradition as well, with many of the minor league affiliates sporting the Braves name. once again, that's quite alright. To each their own, but for the sake of this countdown the Braves will not do well. However, the Carolina Mudcats saved them from last place. The Mudcats, when you think about Minor League teams, are one of the most recognizable and unique teams in the game. It is for that sole reason that the Braves sit at #29 and not dead last.

28. Pittsburgh Pirates

AAA: Indianapolis Indians

AA: Altoona Curve

A+: Bradenton Marauders

A-: West Virginia Power

R: West Virginia Black Bears/Bristol Pirates

The Pirates the the first team to simply just have bad taste when it comes to their names. Nothing really blows me away personally. The Curve have one of the oldest traditions in the sport of baseball, but the name is just ok. The Marauders are just a cool new way to say Pirates and the Power and Black Bears, albeit decent logos, are lackadaisical names to say the least. The further along we get in these rankings, you'll start to see why the top teams separate from the pack. As for now, the Pirates will settle for contending at the highest level.

27. Toronto Blue Jays

AAA: Buffalo Bisons

AA: New Hampshire Fisher Cats

A+: Dunedin Blue Jays

A-: Lansing Lugnuts

R:  Bluefield Blue Jays

There's a couple of things that get me excited about the Blue Jays affiliates, but then their score just came crashing down to Earth after they lacked creativity and effort and threw up a Blue Jays twice. The Lansing Lugnuts are one of the golden names in all of MiLB. It rolls off the tongue and the name is just truly unique. Not many of you can say you've been a Lugnut. The Fisher Cats also have a great name. It sticks out and makes you think, well what is a Fisher Cat? Unfortunately they've thrown a curve when it comes to their logo the past couple of years and included and Uncle Sam logo that just doesn't fit the team as a whole. Logos didn't play a huge part in the rankings, but they did play a little role.

26. New York Yankees

AAA: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

AA: Trenton Thunder

A+: Tampa Yankees

A-: Charleston River Dogs

R: Staten Island Yankees

"America's Team" comes in at #26. You would think that the Yankees wouldn't even care about their Minor League system since they never actually use theirs the way other teams do. But, props to them for having a spark of creative juices. The gem of this group is the Charleston River Dogs. If you go to any little league field in america and the league is named after minor league teams, I can bet that 9/10 of those leagues has a River Dogs in it. It's one of the most unusual names in all of baseball but it goes so well with the city the team is from too: Charleston. Lets not forget about the Thunder too, the Cloud and Lightning logo is a classic. But the fact that the Yanks had two teams named after themselves killed their score. A recurring theme here.

25. Boston Red Sox

AAA: Pawtucket Red Sox

AA: Portland Sea Dogs

A+: Salem Red Sox

A-: Greenville Drive

R: Lowell Spinners

The Sox get a slight edge over the Yankees simply because the Pawtucket Red Sox go by the "Paw Sox" most of the time and even have uniforms and hats with a bear on them. Other than that, they're almost a split image with their rivals. The Sea Dogs is a fantastic name especially when you realize that the team plays in Portland, Maine. Not many people up there even know what a sea cow is outside of baseball. The Drive are a classic old MiLB team and the Spinners... I can't quite tell you why but I just like that name. Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong because even I'd like to know!

24. Washington Nationals

AAA: Syracuse Chiefs

AA: Harrisburg Senators

A+: Potomac Nationals

A-: Hagerstown Suns

R: Auburn Doubledays

There's some potential here. The Doubledays are the crown of the group but the Senators are right on their tail. The Doubledays make this work with the play on words of Abner Doubleday (supposedly the inventor of baseball... false) but they pull it off brilliantly. Not to mention it's located in Auburn, NY and just a small drive from the baseball HOF in Cooperstown. The Senators are neat since Harrisburg is the capital city of PA and they play that off quite nicely. As for the others, nothing really gets me excited about a Chief, Sun or National. Seen those all before. Yawn.

23. Arizona Diamondbacks

AAA: Reno Aces

AA: Mobile BayBears

A+: Visalia Rawhide

A-: Kane County Cougars

R: Missoula Osprey

It's cheesy, but the Aces do it for me. it ties right in with the casino theme of Reno. Love it. As for the others... The Dbacks, life their new uniforms, tried to be just a little bit edgy with their names. Now, some are going to hit like the Aces. But the Rawhide? Isn't that something you give to your dog to chew on? The BayBears? There has to be some history behind it. But to me it just doesn't fit. As for the Osprey, this has to be one of the first times I've seen a team name singular instead of plural. Interesting, just like the entire Dbacks franchise.

22. Chicago Cubs

AAA: Iowa Cubs

AA: Tennessee Smokies

A+: Myrtle Beach Pelicans

A-: South Bend Cubs

R: Eugene Emeralds.

We should probably know the Cubs minor league names by heart after watching all their top prospects move through their system. I remember Javier Baez and Kris Bryant tear it up in Tennessee for a couple of seasons. Speaking of the Smokies, love the reference to the area and the natural beauty of Tennessee. Goes very well and has an incredibly classy logo. The Pelicans would be cooler if the New Orleans Pelicans didn't become a thing before they were. But like many teams, the Cubs score was drowned out by lack of excitement with two Cubs appearances. Typical Cubs, get you excited but they let you down at the end. We've seen that one before haven't we Northsiders?

21. Chicago White Sox

AAA: Charlotte Knights

AA: Birmingham Barons

A+: Winston-Salem Dash

A-: Kannapolis Intimidators

R: Great Falls Voyagers

The White Sox get a lot of their points off of stadiums. The Knights stadium is widely known as one of the best Minor League Parks in the country, while the Barons park is the oldest. The barons name also goes waaaayyyy back and i'm a sucker for old fashioned baseball things. The Intimidators however, are an exciting name. It would just be a letdown if the team itself wasn't good. Risk/reward with that name.

20. Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim

AAA: Salt Lake Bees

AA: Arkansas Travelers

A+: Inland Empire 66ers

A-: Burlington Bees

R: Orem Owlz

First off... I get having two teams as the same name of your organization. But having two teams with the same name that isn't? Why do the Angels have two teams called the Bees? Is that necessary whatsoever? Could one of the not be the Hornets? Just a little rant. The 66ers are one that makes you think and that there's an actual meaning to the word "66er" on the Inland Empire (Hint, it's for route 66) For that they do a great job. The Owlz is a little edgy, but the logo wins me over. So good job Angels, minus the Bees issue.

19. Baltimore Orioles
AAA: Norfolk Tides
AA: Bowie Baysox
A+: Frederick Keys
A-: Delmarva Shorebirds
R: Aberdeen Ironbirds

The Orioles names get weaker and weaker as the prospects move up their system. But the Ironbirds take the cake for the Birds. The Ironbirds pay tribute to the franchise's greatest player, the Iron Man himself, Cal Ripken Jr. You know you've made it when there's a team named after you. The Tides and Baysox are unique names and those reeled in some points. The Shorebirds have a really intriguing concept as well. As for the Keys, i'm not sold. What exactly are they going for there? But there's been much worse as we've seen, so lets give them some respect for a little creative action.

18. Cleveland Indians
AAA: Columbus Clippers
AA: Akron RubberDucks
A+: Lynchburg Hillcats
A-: Lake County Captains
R: Mahoning Valley Scrappers

Obviously we know what team i'm going to talk about first. A couple of years ago, that team from Akron was called the Aeros. One complete makeover later and they're now called the RubberDucks. Personally, it's not my favorite, but a name like that is something that you love to see out of Minor League baseball nowadays. The Scrappers are a classy name, the Clippers would get more from me with a more vibrant color scheme and if the more popular Clippers weren't playing basketball out in LA.

17. Texas Rangers
 AAA: Round Rock Express
AA: Frisco Roughriders
A+: High Desert Mavericks
A-: Hickory Crawdads
R: Spokane Indians

When I originally was thinking about doing this list, I thought the Rangers would be quite high. Now i'm quite bummed that I find them at #17. The Crawdads are a top 10 name in all of MiLB. Just say the full name out loud to yourself. The Hickory Crawdads. That's just awesome. To rival that, the Roughriders just released a new Alternate logo last year with Teddy Roosevelt in it. That gets an A+ in my book. Unfortunately, the Express sounds like an Arena Football team and the Mavericks and Indians just don't get the job done.

16. Los Angeles Dodgers

AAA: Oklahoma City Dodgers
AA: Tulsa Drillers
A+: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
A-: Great Lakes Loons
R: Ogden Raptors

If this were a competition for hats, I think the Dodgers would win in a Landslide. The Dodgers have one of the cleanest MLB hats, but now the Drillers and Quakes rival that in the Minors. The names aren't that bad either. The Drillers give a nice homage to the oil wells of the midwest and the Quakes is a nice play on the tectonic activity in California. The Loons are different and fit in well with the Great Lakes region. Everything other than the Raptors and the Dodgers fit in with the surrounding areas and ties in with the community, and the Dodgers succeed in my book with that.

Well, if your team wasn't listed this week I guess you have something exciting to look forward to next week. 1-15 are revealed next Sunday night!