Triple-A (baseball)

Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). There are 30 teams, one per Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, with 20 in the IL and 10 in the PCL. Triple-A teams are generally located in smaller to mid-size cities which do not have sports teams of the "Big Four" leagues, such as Syracuse, Toledo, Reno and Omaha, as well as larger metropolitan areas without MLB teams that also have a team in another major professional league, such as Jacksonville, Columbus, Buffalo, and Indianapolis. Four Triple-A teams play in the same metro areas as their parent clubs. All current Triple-A teams are located in the United States; before 2008, some Triple-A leagues also fielded teams in Canada, and from 1967 to 2020 the Mexican League was classified as Triple-A. Reasons for the relocation of these teams were solely because of costs and attendance. Other than the current two Triple-A leagues, only three other leagues have ever held the classification.