San Francisco Giants cut ties with Fresno Grizzlies

FRESNO, Calif. -- Fresno City officials say AAA baseball will remain at Chukchansi Park, but will be affiliated with the Houston Astros.

The Fresno Grizzlies said on Thursday that the San Francisco Giants "will be pursuing other options for their Triple-A affiliate."

According to a Sacramento Bee report, the Sacramento River Cats have reached an agreement with the San Francisco Giants, after cutting ties with the Oakland A's.

Fresno Grizzlies Executive Vice President Derek Franks issued the following update Thursday morning:

"The San Francisco Giants have informed us this morning they will be pursuing another option for their Triple-A affiliate. We sincerely thank the Giants organization for an extremely fruitful 17-year partnership and wish them the best moving forward. In the last 48 hours, other Major League teams wanting to make their Triple-A home in Downtown Fresno have aggressively pursued our organization. An announcement on a new player development contract will be forthcoming."

The Houston Astros have one of the best minor league systems in baseball and were dubbed "2017 World Series Champions" earlier this year by Sports Illustrated.