The road to Camden Yards, once again, passes through Frederick.

The Orioles’ High-A affiliate, currently in Aberdeen and playing as the IronBirds, will relocate to Frederick and play as the Keys beginning next spring — five years after Major League Baseball’s minor league contraction left the city in the lurch.

“There are only so many communities across this country that get to say they are minor league baseball towns, and today Frederick returns to that list,” Mayor Michael O’Connor said during a celebratory announcement Friday at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.

MLB downsized its minor leagues by one-quarter in 2020, cutting 43 teams including the Frederick Keys, who had played in the city since 1989.

That moniker stuck around, however, as the lower- level MLB Draft League continued the baseball tradition in Frederick. That team will, in turn, relocate to become the new Aberdeen IronBirds as the cities essentially swap squads.

Both teams will retain their names and logos; the big difference is that Orioles prospects will now play in Frederick, not Aberdeen, as they climb the ladder from Salisbury before heading to Bowie.

With a population of nearly 90,000, Frederick is among the largest municipalities in Maryland and substantially larger than Aberdeen’s roughly 20,000.

O’Connor, a Frederick native and baseball fan, recalled the disappointment he felt in 2020 when Orioles general manager Mike Elias told him Frederick would be cut.

Elias remembered “vividly” his end of that phone call and said he was thrilled affiliated baseball will return to Frederick.

His comments came one day after a trade deadline sell-off for the big-league club. Some of the many prospects that the Orioles recently acquired could wind up playing in Frederick next year.

“The farm system is a lifeblood if you’re a team like the Orioles,” Elias said.

Greg Baroni, founder and CEO of Attain Sports, which owns both ballclubs, said he couldn’t imagine how those in Frederick felt at that time.

“Today, August 1, write it down. It should always be in your memory,” Baroni said. “This is your day.”

Attain has a lease with Frederick through at least 2032. The future of the Aberdeen club past 2026 is unclear.

The Banner first reported on the IronBirds’ uncertain future in January, and Friday’s announcement makes official what has been telegraphed for months. Baroni called the revelation “probably the worst-kept secret in the world.”

The mayor of Aberdeen has long been disenchanted with what he has described as a financially burdensome agreement between the city and the IronBirds, who were originally owned by hometown hero Cal Ripken Jr. and his brother, Billy. That led to years of contention and eventually a stalemate between the mayor, Patrick McGrady, and team owners.

The city of Aberdeen was on the hook for costly upgrades to the ballpark, McGrady has said. An Aberdeen news release Friday highlighted that its new agreement would reduce “financial obligations” for the city.

Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly had tried to get involved in keeping the Orioles-affiliated IronBirds in Aberdeen.

“I’m sorry to see them leaving,” Cassilly, who is taking his grandchildren to a game this week, said Friday. “It’s great fun at a very reasonable price.”

The team had recently struggled with attendance, however.

Aberdeen City Councilman Tim Lindecamp said the team had a “terrible” marketing strategy and predicted that a draft league team, which plays fewer games, could generate more fan support.

Last year, the Ripkens sold the majority of the IronBirds to Attain, retaining a 10% stake.

The Keys had strong attendance before being cut by MLB, ranking first or second in the Carolina League for eight straight years. But MLB’s contraction focused upon how equipped each ballpark was for player development amenities, such as batting cages.

Harry Grove Stadium, which opened in 1990, needed a medley of improvements.

During Friday’s announcement, officials spoke from center field, in the shadow of machinery continuing to upgrade the ballpark ahead of next season. The state has funded about $40 million in renovations to the ballpark, including new clubhouses, as part of a 2022 law that set aside a chunk of cash for minor league parks.

Other stadiums — including, potentially, Aberdeen’s Ripken Stadium — are also set to receive upgrades.

Casual fans in Frederick might not notice much of a difference between this season and next. After all, a team called the Keys will continue to play baseball.

But there’s a gulf between the MLB Draft League and having a High-A affiliate — whose players might eventually play for the Orioles. Former Orioles All-Stars Manny Machado and Trey Mancini came through Frederick.

Will Bardenwerper published a book this year, titled “Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America,” on the effects of MLB’s downsizing. There’s a connection and a pride that communities receive from being tied to big cities, he said in an interview Friday.

He cited the example of the Pulaski Yankees, based in Virginia, who lost their big-league affiliation in 2020.

“There’s a direct pipeline from this field and these minor leaguers in pinstripes to Yankee Stadium, the house that Ruth built,” said Bardenwerper, who grew up an Orioles fan in Bethesda. “And that’s severed when you lose that affiliation.”

There’s also an economic advantage to being able to promote a ballclub that could have future MLB stars on it.

“A minor league franchise is going to be more profitable and going to appreciate more in value for the owner than these other kinds of teams, generally speaking,” he said.

There is not a lease in place to keep baseball in Aberdeen for the long term, but Baroni said that’s something he’s striving for. There is an ongoing “healing process” between the city and the ownership group and agreeing to a lease through the 2026 season was a “pretty big milestone,” he said.

Aside from the MLB Draft League — which features amateur players half of the season and professionals the other half — other leagues could find Aberdeen appealing. For example, the town fits within the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball’s geographic footprint.

“We’d be open to any conversations,” Frank Boulton, league founder, said in an interview this week.