Editing Arizona Complex League (section)

==History==
===Arizona League===
The league began play in 1988 as the Arizona League (AZL) on an experimental basis with four teams playing a 60-game schedule—the teams were affiliated with the [[Milwaukee Brewers]], [[Oakland Athletics]], [[San Diego Padres]], and a cooperative between the [[Boston Red Sox]] and [[Seattle Mariners]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=ca133c0f |title=1988 Arizona League |website=[[Baseball-Reference.com]] |accessdate=June 26, 2021}}</ref> Games were scheduled in the morning in order to make sure the league did not compete with the [[Phoenix Firebirds]] of the [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] [[Pacific Coast League]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Rookie baseball league to begin play in Valley |date=February 19, 1988 |page=53 |work=Arizona Republic}}</ref>

The [[Arizona League Diamondbacks|Phoenix Diamondbacks]] debuted in 1996, the first affiliate of the [[Arizona Diamondbacks]] to start playing professional baseball, two years before their parent club joined [[Major League Baseball]]. A crowd of 6,124 attended the Diamondbacks' first game on June 25, 1996, a 15–7 loss to the [[Arizona League Athletics|Phoenix Athletics]]. A number of local dignitaries were at the game, including [[Buck Showalter]] and [[Jerry Colangelo]].<ref>{{cite news |title=D’back rookies show potential to festive fans |last=Brazzle |first=Ken |date=July 26, 1996 |work=Tucson Citizen |url=http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue2/1996/06/26/212989-d-back-rookies-show-potential-to-festive-fans/}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sherman |first1=Len |title=Big League, Big Time |pages=125–132}}</ref>

The [[Colorado Rockies]] started their rookie league team a year before starting major league play as well in 1992, sharing a team with the Cubs. The team, composed of the Rockies' first-ever draft picks, received a different level of notoriety than the Diamondbacks for their first rookie league game: as the players wore either Rockies jerseys or Cubs jerseys, the team did not have their uniform pants ready at the start of the season, and had to borrow pants from the Cubs.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rockies' team has rocky road in early going |date=June 24, 1992 |work=Arizona Republic}}</ref>

Between 1998 and 2000 an unaffiliated team composed of young players from the [[Mexican League]] played out of the [[Tucson Electric Park]] spring training complex, in part to add a fourth team to a southern division. Three [[Tucson]]-based teams (the Mexican All-Stars, the Diamondbacks, and the Rockies) would leave the league after the 2000 season, largely due to travel concerns, followed by the White Sox two years later. All three teams later relocated their spring training complexes to the Phoenix metropolitan area, and the Diamondbacks and White Sox reinstated their rookie league teams.

The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.<ref>{{cite news |title=A Message From Pat O'Conner|url=https://www.milb.com/milb/news/message-from-minor-league-baseball-president-ceo-pat-o-conner-313052288|website=Minor League Baseball|date=March 13, 2020|access-date=May 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name=2020can>{{cite news |title=2020 Minor League Baseball Season Shelved|url=https://www.milb.com/news/2020-minor-league-baseball-season-shelved|website=Minor League Baseball|date=June 30, 2020|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref>

===Arizona Complex League===
Prior to the 2021 season, in continuation of MLB's reorganization of the minor leagues, the two US-based complex leagues were renamed, with the Arizona League becoming the Arizona Complex League (ACL).

For 2025, the league consists of 17 teams.<ref>{{cite web|title=Arizona League Divisions|url=https://www.milb.com/arizona|website=Arizona League|publisher=Minor League Baseball|access-date=April 22, 2025}}</ref> Beginning in 2024, the schedule was changed from a season which ran from late-June through late-August to a season which runs from early-May through late-July. This change also made it so the league would no longer feature players drafted in the current year's [[Major_League_Baseball_draft|draft]], which in 2021 was changed to take place during the [[Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game#Other_All-Star_Game_events|All-Star Weekend]] in mid-July.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/arizona-florida-complex-league-schedules-changing-for-2024/|title=Arizona, Florida Complex League Schedules Changing For 2024|first=J. J.|last=Cooper|date=February 13, 2024}}</ref>