Triple-A · International League · El Paso, Texas, US · Southwest University Park
El Paso Chihuahuas
El Paso's first Triple-A franchise burst onto the scene in 2014 and won a PCL championship within three years, bringing big-time baseball to the borderland with a downtown ballpark offering views of two countries and three states.
The El Paso Chihuahuas represent the culmination of decades of effort to bring Triple-A baseball to the Sun City. When MountainStar Sports Group — led by prominent El Paso families the Hunts and the Fosters — purchased the Tucson Padres and relocated them to the Texas-Mexico border in 2014, they gave El Paso its first top-tier minor league franchise and a gleaming new downtown ballpark in Southwest University Park.
The Chihuahuas wasted no time making an impact. In just their third season, the 2016 squad captured the Pacific Coast League championship behind manager Rod Barajas, giving El Paso its first professional baseball title. The franchise has maintained a competitive presence as the San Diego Padres' Triple-A affiliate, with future major leaguers like Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado (on rehab), and a host of Padres prospects passing through the desert on their way to Petco Park.
Southwest University Park, situated in downtown El Paso with views of the Franklin Mountains and the international border with Ciudad Juarez, has become a centerpiece of the city's entertainment district. The ballpark's location — where fans can watch a game while looking into two countries and three states — gives it a character unlike any other venue in professional baseball. The elevation and dry desert air produce prodigious offensive numbers, making Chihuahuas games a reliably entertaining affair.
Under manager Pete Zamora, entering his third season in 2026, the Chihuahuas continue to develop Padres prospects while serving as a source of civic pride for a border community that had waited generations for this level of professional baseball.