BELOIT — The Beloit Snappers received a formal invitation from Major League Baseball to become the Advanced-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. The prospective move will elevate Beloit to the Advanced-A classification after 39 years at the Class A level while aligning the team with a Marlins franchise that reached the playoffs in 2020 and boasts the fifth-best farm system in baseball according to MLB Pipeline. 

“We are thankful to receive the invitation to become a licensee of Major League Baseball and the Advanced-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins,” Quint Studer of Gateway Professional Baseball, managing partners of the Snappers, said. “One year ago, the Beloit community made a decision to build a new downtown baseball stadium. Thanks to the support of the fans and the community for the stadium project, Beloit will be one of the 120 licensed Minor League teams in 2021 and beyond, have a great new partnership with the Miami Marlins, and bring a higher level of competition and talent to Beloit fans by being moved up to the Advanced-A level.” 

The new affiliation and promotion to the Advanced-A level will come as part of the ongoing Professional Baseball Agreement negotiations between Major and Minor League Baseball. 

“When Major League Baseball reached out and said that Marlins CEO Derek Jeter would be inviting Beloit, I was thrilled,” Studer said. “The credit goes to the never-give-up group of owners in Beloit led by Dennis Conerton. None of this would have happened without the commitment of so many people in the Beloit community to build a new stadium, led by Diane Hendricks, Jim Packard, ABC Supply, Dennis Conerton, and others. As Diane said in a recent video on the new stadium, let’s play ball.” 

The invitation coincides with continued progress on Beloit’s new downtown multi-use stadium, which is anticipated to open next summer. 

“We’re very excited for our relationship with the Miami Marlins and to continue to work with the Studer family,” Dennis Conerton, president of Beloit Professional Baseball, said. “Quint’s reputation as one of Minor League Baseball’s most successful owners precedes him, and he’s played an instrumental role in the stadium process and in securing an affiliate invitation for our team. After 20 years of hard work and many setbacks for Beloit Baseball, the progress of the last year has made it one of the most exciting years of my life.”  

Prior to the invitation to join the Marlins organization, Beloit was an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics from 2013-2020, the Minnesota Twins from 2005-2012, and the Milwaukee Brewers from 1982-2004. 

“On behalf of our whole organization, we’d like to sincerely thank the Oakland Athletics for their partnership with our team and our community. The A’s were strong partners both on and off the field and we wish them nothing but the best in future seasons,” Studer said. 

In a subsequent announcement, the Studer-owned Pensacola Blue Wahoos were invited to join the Miami Marlins organization as their Double-A affiliate.