{"id":263507,"date":"2026-08-11T21:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/263507\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T21:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:28:10","slug":"yankees-triple-a-affiliate-plans-to-retire-railriders-branding-after-13-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/263507\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees&#8217; Triple-A Affiliate Plans to Retire RailRiders Branding After 13 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6c\">The Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders will officially have a new name next year. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6f\">The New York Yankees&#8217; Triple-A affiliate is set to rebrand before the 2027 season begins, the organization <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/swbrailriders\/status\/2087177428611314086?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> on Tuesday. Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre team president and general manager Shawn Reilly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/milb\/scranton-wb\/news\/the-next-chapter-scranton-wilkes-barre-set-to-rebrand-in-2027\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> the goal of the name change is &#8220;building an identity that our community can rally around for generations to come.&#8221; The team plans to do the &#8220;full brand unveiling&#8221; in November. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">The Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre Yankees rebranded to the RailRiders in 2013. Since then, several future big leaguers have played for the RailRiders, from three-time MVP Aaron Judge to current New York shortstop George Lombard Jr. But as of next year, the Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre franchise will have a new identity. <\/p>\n<p>Checking in on current and former RailRiders in 2026<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/01kzs4wewmv7y09ehzh6.jpg\" alt=\"New York Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr.\" title=\"New York Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr.\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6v\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Aug 9, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr. (96) takes the field for the start of the game against the Atlanta Braves at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6z\">Heading into the final stretch of their last season as the RailRiders, the Yankees&#8217; Triple-A affiliate has a 61-50 record. Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre went 37-37 in the first half of the year but is 24-13 in the second half of 2026. If they finish the second half of the season with the best record in the International League, the RailRiders would get to compete for the league championship. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"72\">Three of the Yankees&#8217; top-10 prospects on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/milb\/prospects\/yankees\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MLB Pipeline<\/a> are currently at Triple-A: right-handers Elmer Rodr\u00edguez and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/minor-league-baseball\/news\/yankees-prospect-carlos-lagrange-takes-major-step-toward-return-to-mound-justin3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Carlos Lagrange<\/a>, and left-hander Kyle Carr. Lagrange and Carr are both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/minor-league-baseball\/news\/latest-injury-news-on-yankees-carlos-lagrange-puts-2026-mlb-debut-in-doubt-justin3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">on the injured list<\/a> right now, though. Rodr\u00edguez, on the other hand, has a 2.85 ERA in 17 starts for Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre this year. The 22-year-old also made his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/minor-league-baseball\/news\/how-yankees-pitching-prospect-elmer-rodriguez-performed-in-mlb-debut-justin3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MLB debut<\/a> this year, posting a 4.76 ERA in four starts for the Yankees. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"75\">Speaking of debuts, New York&#8217;s No. 1 prospect joined the RailRiders for the first time earlier this season. In 56 Triple-A games, Lombard hit .268 with six home runs, 21 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases. The young shortstop was just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/minor-league-baseball\/news\/yankees-make-highly-anticipated-move-with-top-prospect-george-lombard-jr-justin3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">called up<\/a> to the majors, though, where he&#8217;s made an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/minor-league-baseball\/news\/lombard-brothers-both-make-strong-first-impressions-in-their-debuts-justin3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">immediate impact<\/a>. The 21-year-old is 5-for-17 through his first five big league games with two homers and a handful of sparkling defensive plays. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"78\">When Lombard was promoted, infielder Anthony Volpe and outfielder Jasson Dom\u00ednguez were notably optioned to Triple-A. That allowed outfielder Spencer Jones to remain with the Yankees for the time being. The 6-foot-7 slugger has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/minor-league-baseball\/news\/yankees-spencer-jones-finally-puts-prodigious-power-on-display-in-majors-justin3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">launched<\/a> 33 homers for the RailRiders over the last two years, and he&#8217;s gone deep five times in his first 45 games with New York.  <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7b\">While most Yankees fans will remain focused on the big league season over the next few months, some supporters will undoubtedly be curious to see what the Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre franchise comes up with for the new name of New York&#8217;s Triple-A affiliate.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders will officially have a new name next year. The New York Yankees&#8217; Triple-A affiliate is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-263507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}