Some major changes are coming for the Kane County Cougars. Here's what they are.

They are still going to be called the Kane County Cougars and they're still looking forward to playing baseball at Northwestern Medicine Field next season, their home since 1991.

Other than that, some major changes are coming for the Geneva-based team.

In a move that's been in the works since the calendar turned to 2020, Major League Baseball on Wednesday announced 119 minor-league teams have been formally invited to remain as major-league affiliates.

Back in late May, the Cougars were confident they were going to stick with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the low Class A Midwest League.

"In no way, shape or form has there been any discussions or thought that Kane County would be contracted, no way," said Cougars VP/general manager Curtis Haug. "There have been a lot of lists out there and not one of them has included Kane County. We're in a great market with a great ballpark and a lot of great history."

Haug was understandably surprised when the Diamondbacks switched their low A home to Visalia (Calif.), a move designed to cut down on travel expenses.

In addition to the Cougars, 42 other minor-league teams lost their major-league affiliations.

"The whole landscape is changing and when you throw a pandemic into it, too, it's a crazy situation for all of sports at this point," Haug said during a phone interview Wednesday. "It's been a crazy day. I think we had some idea it was coming, so it wasn't that big of a surprise to us. But at the same time, it is something that ... obviously the organization hasn't been through."

In addition to Arizona, Kane County has been affiliated with the Cubs (2013-14), Royals (2011-12), Athletics (2003-10), Marlins (1993-2002) and Orioles (1991-92).

The Cougars set Class A attendance records and helped develop over 170 major-league players, including future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, Willson Contreras, Kyle Schwarber, Josh Beckett and Nelson Cruz.

They will go on, most likely in MLB's new Partner League or Draft League. Kane County hopes to have all the details by early January.

"We look at it like it's a new beginning," Haug said. "It's Cougars 2.0. We look forward to doing the same things we've always done, providing family entertainment. It's affordable, convenient, it's going to be a lot of fun just like it's always been. Nothing's going to change about Cougars baseball.

"We're going to look at all of our options. The thing about it is there's a lot of MLB Partner Leagues out there that we have options to choose from. The good thing is we're going to still be underneath the MLB umbrella and MLB is still going to have a lot of influence on whatever league we choose to be in."

Playing in a new league with the formerly independent Schaumburg Boomers could be an option for the Cougars.

"Anything's possible in this new landscape," Haug said. "It's hard to say exactly right now. There are probably three, four, five different leagues right now, and there are some leagues we don't even know about yet. They're still creating them, still putting them together, inviting clubs to be part of them. The big thing is they're all underneath the MLB umbrella, which is important.

"It's going to be business as usual. Nothing's going to change when it comes to promotions and all the fun and family entertainment we do. Hopefully we'll have plenty of new stuff to offer when it comes to promotions, theme nights, things like that."

•The Cubs invited Class AAA Iowa, AA Tennessee, high Class A South Bend and low A Myrtle Beach to remain minor-league affiliates Wednesday.

•The White Sox invited AAA Charlotte, AA Birmingham, high A Winston-Salem and low A Kannapolis to remain.