| Gulf Coast League | |
|---|---|
| Gulf Coast League logo | |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 1964 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Country |  United States
|
| Current champions | Gulf Coast League Phillies |
| Official website | Official Website |
The Gulf Coast League is a minor league baseball league which operates in Florida. It is a Rookie League, with a season running from mid-June to late August. The season is 60 games long and teams in the league are divided into three divisions, East, North and South. After the regular season the division champion with the best record gets a bye into the best-of-3 championship. The two other division champions play a single game to determine who will move on to the championship series.
GCL teams generally play at the minor league spring training complexes of their parent major league clubs, and are uniformly owned by those parent clubs. The teams generate little if any revenue, as admission is not charged and no concessions are operated. As almost all of the games are played in the heat and humidity of Florida summer afternoons, very few show up to watch the average contest. GCL games are perhaps the least competitive of all minor league games, as most of the players were just drafted in that year's entry draft (2-3 weeks before the season's start) and are there to develop skills under their employer's tutelage rather than (necessarily) to win games or entertain fans.
GCL teams are not referred to by their home city, but simply by their parent club's name, and the prefix "GCL" or "Gulf Coast" if necessary to differentiate between them and another club sharing the nickname. Some of these teams share stadiums with their club's High-A affiliate in the Florida State League, which can lead to confusion, as FSL teams do use the city name (e.g. the Dunedin Blue Jays, three levels up from the GCL Blue Jays).
Current teams[]
| Division | Team | MLB Affiliation | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | GCL Cardinals | St. Louis Cardinals | Jupiter, Florida | Roger Dean Stadium | 7,200 |
| GCL Marlins | Florida Marlins | Jupiter, Florida | Roger Dean Stadium | 7,200 | |
| GCL Mets | New York Mets | Port St. Lucie, Florida | Tradition Field | 7,347 | |
| GCL Nationals | Washington Nationals | Viera, Florida | Washington Nationals Training Complex, Space Coast Stadium |
8,100 |
| Division | Team | MLB Affiliation | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North | GCL Astros | Houston Astros | Kissimmee, Florida | Osceola County Stadium | 5,300 |
| GCL Blue Jays | Toronto Blue Jays | Dunedin, Florida | Bobby Mattick Training Center at Englebert Complex |
||
| GCL Braves | Atlanta Braves | Lake Buena Vista, Florida | Champion Stadium | 9,500 | |
| GCL Phillies | Philadelphia Phillies | Clearwater, Florida | Carpenter Complex | — | |
| GCL Tigers | Detroit Tigers | Lakeland, Florida | Joker Marchant Stadium | 8,500 | |
| GCL Yankees | New York Yankees | Tampa, Florida | Yankee Complex | — |
| Division | Team | MLB Affiliation | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South | GCL Orioles | Baltimore Orioles | Sarasota, Florida | Twin Lakes Park | |
| GCL Pirates | Pittsburgh Pirates | Bradenton, Florida | Pirate City Stadium | ||
| GCL Rays | Tampa Bay Rays | Port Charlotte, Florida | Charlotte Sports Park | 7,000 | |
| GCL Reds | Cincinnati Reds | Sarasota, Florida | Ed Smith Stadium | 7,500 | |
| GCL Red Sox | Boston Red Sox | Fort Myers, Florida | Boston Red Sox Player Development Complex | — | |
| GCL Twins | Minnesota Twins | Fort Myers, Florida | Lee County Sports Complex | — |