Arizona Complex League Brewers

The Arizona Complex League Brewers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Arizona Complex League (ACL) and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. The are located in Phoenix, Arizona, and play their home games at American Family Fields of Phoenix. Milwaukee fields two squads in the Arizona Complex League, the ACL Brewers Blue and ACL Brewers Gold.

Established as members of the Arizona League (AZL) in its inaugural 1988 season, the Arizona League Brewers played at Compadre Stadium until 1995. Milwaukee did not operate a team in the league from 1996 through 2000, but it returned to play in 2001 at American Family Fields of Phoenix, then known as Maryvale Baseball Park. With the reorganization of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the AZL Brewers became the ACL Brewers after their league was renamed. The Brewers have won four ACL championships, including three consecutive titles in their first three seasons and most recently in 2010.

History[]

The Arizona League Brewers were one of four teams to compete in the inaugural Arizona League (AZL) season of 1988.^[1] The short-season Rookie classification league was created to serve as a developmental league, similar to extended spring training, specifically for recently drafted high school and Latin American players.^[2] The Brewers played their home games at Compadre Stadium in Chandler, Arizona.^[2] This was the spring training site of the Milwaukee Brewers, who operated the team.^[3]

The AZL Brewers' first game was a 13–11 victory over the AZL Mariners/Red Sox on June 23, 1988.^[4][5] Managed by Alex Taveras,^[6] the Brewers won the first Arizona League championship with a league-best 40–18 record.^[1] Jeff Nate led the Brewers to a second AZL title in 1989, topping the league with a 40–15 mark.^[7][8] They won a third consecutive AZL championship in 1990 with a league-best 36–17 record under the returning Taveras.^[9][10] The Brewers posted winning records in each of their next five seasons, but did not finish atop the league standings.^[11]

Following the 1995 season, Milwaukee moved their Rookie affiliation from Chandler to the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League in Ogden, Utah, to escape Arizona's summer heat and provide their players with better working conditions.^[3] They returned to operations in the Arizona League in 2001.^[11] From this point, they played their home games at Maryvale Baseball Park (now called American Family Fields of Phoenix), Milwaukee's spring training site since 1998.^[12]

The Brewers have played at American Family Fields of Phoenix since 2001.

Unlike AZL Brewers teams from the initial 1988 to 1995 run, those in the second stretch starting in 2001 posted losing records through 2009.^[11] Despite the team's results, two Brewers were selected for the Arizona League Most Valuable Player Award during this period: Hernán Iribarren in 2004 and Lorenzo Cain in 2005.^[13][14]

In the 2010 season, manager Tony Diggs led the team to win the Central Division title and a berth in the AZL's limited playoffs. The Brewers defeated the AZL Rangers in a single semifinal game before winning the championship game versus the AZL Reds to earn their fourth league crown.^[15] Diggs won the league's Manager of the Year Award.^[16]

After this success in 2010, the Brewers returned to posting losing records each season from 2011 to 2016.^[11] Rafael Neda's 2017 Brewers qualified for the playoffs by winning the First Half Central Division title,^[17][18] but they were eliminated by the AZL Cubs in the quarterfinal match.^[19] No Brewers team has reached the postseason since this most recent appearance.

In 2019, Milwaukee began fielding two Arizona League squads. AZL Brewers Blue and AZL Brewers Gold, named for their major league team's colors, were created to allow ample playing time for the Brewers' large number of recent high school draftees and international signings.^[20] Prior to the 2021 season, the Arizona League was renamed as the Arizona Complex League (ACL).

Season-by-season records[]

Table key

League	The team's final position in the league standings
Division	The team's final position in the divisional standings
GB	Games behind the team that finished in first place in the division that season
	League champions (1988–present)
*	Division champions (2009–present)
^	Postseason berth (2001–present)

Season-by-season records

Season	Regular season					Postseason			Ref.
	Record	Win %	League	Division	GB	Record	Win %	Result
1988	40–18	.690	1st	—	—	—	—		Won AZL championship	[1]
1989	41–15	.732	1st	—	—	—	—	Won AZL championship	[8]
1990	36–17	.679	1st	—	—	—	—	Won AZL championship	[9]
1991	34–26	.567	2nd	—	5	—	—	—	[21]
1992	31–25	.554	4th	—	3	—	—	—	[22]
1993	29–27	.518	5th	—	6+1⁄2	—	—	—	[23]
1994	32–24	.571	2nd (tie)	—	2	—	—	—	[24]
1995	34–22	.607	3rd	—	3	—	—	—	[25]
2001	27–29	.482	4th	—	8	—	—	—	[26]
2002	26–30	.464	6th	—	9	—	—	—	[27]
2003	18–37	.327	9th	—	19+1⁄2	—	—	—	[28]
2004	24–32	.429	8th	—	13	—	—	—	[29]
2005	22–34	.393	8th	—	17	—	—	—	[30]
2006	21–35	.375	8th	—	15+1⁄2	—	—	—	[31]
2007	19–37	.339	9th	—	18	—	—	—	[32]
2008	13–42	.236	9th	—	25+1⁄2	—	—	—	[33]
2009	25–31	.446	7th	4th	14	—	—	—	[34]
2010 *	34–22	.607	2nd	1st	—	2–0	1.000	Won Central Division title Won semifinals vs. AZL Rangers, 1–0 Won AZL championship vs. AZL Reds, 1–0	[15]
2011	17–39	.304	13th	4th	17	—	—	—	[35]
2012	19–37	.339	11th	3rd	15+1⁄2	—	—	—	[36]
2013	23–33	.411	10th	3rd	11	—	—	—	[37]
2014	24–31	.436	10th	3rd	14	—	—	—	[38]
2015	23–33	.411	12th (tie)	4th (tie)	7+1⁄2	—	—	—	[39]
2016	24–29	.453	12th	4th	8	—	—	—	[40]
2017 ^	33–23	.589	3rd	2nd	4	0–1	.000	Won First Half Central Division title[18] Lost quarterfinals vs. AZL Cubs, 1–0	[19]
2018	22–33	.400	15th	5th	14+1⁄2	—	—	—	[41]
2019Blue	23–33	.411	16th	6th	10	—	—	—	[42]
2019Gold	16–40	.286	21st	6th	23	—	—	—	[42]
2020Blue	Season cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)[43]								[44]
2020Gold									[44]
2021Blue	21–33	.389	15th	6th	11+1⁄2	—	—	—	[45]
2021Gold	26–23	.531	8th	2nd	9	—	—	—	[45]
Totals	777–890	.466	—	—	—	2–1	.667	—	—

Rosters[]

Blue[]

Gold[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (Blue)
• Official website (Gold)