The Arizona Complex League Brewers are a

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team of the

Arizona Complex League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it fo ...

(ACL) and a

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

affiliate of the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. They are located in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, and play their home games at American Family Fields of Phoenix. Established as members of the

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it fo ...

(AZL) in its inaugural 1988 season, the Arizona League Brewers played at

Compadre Stadium Compadre Stadium was a stadium located in Chandler, Arizona. It was the spring training home of the Milwaukee Brewers from 1986 to 1997 and the home field of the Chandler Diamondbacks of the Arizona Fall League from 1992 to 1994. The ballpark wa ...

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. Milwaukee fielded two squads from 2019 to 2022: the AZL/ACL Brewers Blue and AZL/ACL Brewers Gold. The Brewers have won five ACL championships, including three consecutive titles in their first three seasons and most recently in 2023.

History

The Arizona League Brewers were one of four teams to compete in the inaugural

(AZL) season of 1988. The

short-season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (crea ...

Rookie classification league was created to serve as a developmental league, similar to

extended spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring ...

, specifically for recently drafted high school and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n players. The Brewers played their home games at

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, fourth-most populous city in Arizona ...

. This was the

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

site of the

, who operated the team. The AZL Brewers' first game was a 13–11 victory over the

AZL Mariners/Red Sox The Arizona Complex League Mariners are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The team is comp ...

on June 23, 1988. Managed by Alex Taveras, the Brewers won the first Arizona League championship with a league-best 40–18 record. Jeff Nate led the Brewers to a second AZL title in 1989, topping the league with a 40–15 mark. They won a third consecutive AZL championship in 1990 with a league-best 36–17 record under the returning Taveras. The Brewers posted winning records in each of their next five seasons, but did not finish atop the league standings. Following the 1995 season, Milwaukee moved their Rookie affiliation from Chandler to the

Ogden Raptors The Ogden Raptors are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Ogden, Utah and play their home games at Lindquist Field. Pitch ...

of the Pioneer League in

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

, to escape Arizona's summer heat and provide their players with better working conditions. They returned to operations in the Arizona League in 2001. 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. MaryvaleBaseballPark

Unlike AZL Brewers teams from the initial 1988 to 1995 run, those in the second stretch starting in 2001 posted losing records through 2009. Despite the team's results, two Brewers were selected for the Arizona League Most Valuable Player Award during this period:

Hernán Iribarren Hernán Alcides Iribarren (born June 29, 1984) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball infielder and current coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds. Professional career Milwaukee Brew ...

in 2004 and

Lorenzo Cain Lorenzo Lamar Cain (born April 13, 1986) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers and the Kansas City Royals. The Brewers drafted him in the 17th round of the ...

in 2005. 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 The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is composed m ...

in a single semifinal game before winning the championship game versus the

AZL Reds The Arizona Complex League Reds are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is composed m ...

to earn their fourth league crown. Diggs won the league's Manager of the Year Award. After this success in 2010, the Brewers returned to posting losing records each season from 2011 to 2016. Rafael Neda's 2017 Brewers qualified for the playoffs by winning the First Half Central Division title, but they were eliminated by the

AZL Cubs The Arizona Complex League Cubs are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays it home games at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona. The team is composed mainly of player ...

in the quarterfinal match. 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. Prior to the 2021 season, the Arizona League was renamed the

(ACL). In 2022, Brewers Blue

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

Jace Avina was chosen for the ACL Most Valuable Player Award. Milwaukee consolidated its Blue and Gold squads into a single team in 2023. They qualified for the playoffs that season for the first time since 2017 by winning the Central Division, 31–25. They defeated the ACL Rockies in a single game, 3–2, to advance to the best-of-three finals. The Brewers won their fifth ACL championship over the ACL Diamondbacks Red, 2–1.

Reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Gerson Calzadilla was chosen for the ACL Pitcher of the Year Award.

Season-by-season records

Roster

References

{{Arizona Sports 1988 establishments in Arizona 1995 disestablishments in Arizona 2001 establishments in Arizona Arizona Complex League teams Baseball teams disestablished in 1995 Baseball teams established in 1988 Baseball teams established in 2001 Milwaukee Brewers minor league affiliates Professional baseball teams in Arizona