In a move that will shock absolutely no one, the Milwaukee Brewers are in negotiations to buy their High-A affiliate, the Carolina Mudcats (Carolina League).

Mudcats owner Steve Bryant has been open about selling a stake in the Mudcats for several years now, and former MLB affiliates have reportedly discussed buying a minority stake after an affiliation deal took place. The Atlanta Braves may have passed in investing in the Mudcats during the team’s time as a parent (and, apparently, is looking to own a High-A affiliate in the Florida State League down the road), but the Brewers are talking. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Principal owner Mark Attanasio revealed that news Sunday at the “Brewers On Deck” annual fan festival at the Wisconsin Center. The Brewers currently do not own any of their farm clubs….

“You have a little bit of musical chairs in the minor leagues,” Attanasio said. “You can’t just add teams. There are a prescribed number of teams. There has been a bit of a wave in baseball of teams owning their affiliates.”

By buying the Mudcats, located in Zebulon, N.C., Attanasio said it “will allow us to better train players at the high Class A level and not looking every two years for another place to play.”

Owning a team means controlling a destiny, as several MLB teams–Houston, Atlanta and St. Louis, for example–own a share or all of one of\r more minor-league affiliated. Because so many MLB teams own a High-A affiliate (look at the Florida State League, which has a majority of MLB owners), it’s hard to control your destiny at that level.