Cardinals Minor League Team Back in Peoria

The Peoria Chiefs baseball team will again become a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Peoria team has called a news conference for next week to make the word official. The Chiefs, of the Midwest League, were previously affiliated with the Cardinals from the late 90s until 2004.

Since the Chiefs have helped groom future Cubs players, but the Chicago franchise announced last month they were pulling the plug on the Chiefs and moving their Class A team to nearby Kane County.

Both the Cubs and the Cougars said Wednesday they'd reached a two-year deal.  The Cougars play just outside Geneva.

News reports had indicated for weeks the Cubs were making the move, but neither team had confirmed the information until Wednesday.