By IAN WILSON
Alberta can no longer claim to be rat free.
The Edmonton Prospects have rebranded to their newly minted identity and are now the Energy City Cactus Rats.
It’s a process that dovetails with the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) team’s departure from the Alberta capital to nearby Spruce Grove, where the franchise is building a new stadium that they will call home during the 2025 season.
“It took us a while to make that decision. I was pretty set on keeping the name,” team owner Pat Cassidy confessed of his love of the Prospects handle during an Alberta Dugout Stories interview in November of 2024.
“We’re trying to make sure that people understand that this ballpark is for the entire Edmonton and metro Edmonton region, including Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland, Sherwood Park and St. Albert and Leduc and all of those other great baseball locations in this region. We were a little hesitant to change the name but then we started to investigate it a little bit further.”
What followed was a team-naming contest that was opened up to the public.
The hundreds of suggestions were eventually reduced to five names – Burrow Bandits, Cactus Rats, Cobra Chickens, Jacked Rabbits and Prairie Pirates – and those were put to another vote, with Cactus Rats prevailing.
“This is more than just a name change—it’s a complete evolution of our team’s identity,” said Cassidy in a news release.
“The Energy City Cactus Rats represent the hard work, resilience, and passion of our players, staff, and fans. The cities of the Metro Edmonton Region are cities built on energy, determination, and innovation, and our new brand reflects that spirit. Energy is a staple for every city in this region and we want to capture that spirit.”
In describing the name change, the club said the new selection is a reference to the Edmonton area’s energy sector roots. Cactus rat is another term for porcupine.
“The Cactus Rats are tough, adaptable, and always find a way to thrive — just like our team and our fans,” said Cassidy.
“We wanted a name that captures the spirit of Edmonton baseball, and we believe we’ve found the perfect fit.”
The logo features a porcupine wearing a high-visibility work jacket tossing a quilled baseball bat, a nod to the blue-collar identity in the region. A secondary logo depicts the porcupine in a hard hat.
The team’s official colours are blue, gray, neon yellow, brown, black and white.
“We’re incredibly excited for this next step in our franchise’s history,” Cassidy said.
“This rebrand isn’t just about changing a logo—it’s about embracing the future and creating a legacy that will last for generations. We can’t wait to welcome fans into this new era of baseball in Edmonton.”
The franchise originally joined the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL) – the predecessor of the WCBL – as the Edmonton Big River Prospects in 2005 and played in St. Albert, as well as in John Fry Park in the south of Edmonton over the years.
They later dropped the “Big River” part of their name and made Telus Field, which was renamed RE/MAX Field in 2017, a long-term home diamond from 2012 through 2019.
The 2020 WCBL season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Edmonton Riverhawks signed a 10-year lease with the City of Edmonton to play West Coast League (WCL) baseball at RE/MAX Field that year.
The Prospects called Sherwood Park home when the WCBL returned to action in 2021 and the club bowed out of the 2023 season to focus on building a 3,470-seat stadium in Spruce Grove.
The first WCBL game at the Myshak Metro Ballpark is scheduled for Saturday, June 7th, when the Okotoks Dawgs are set to pay a visit.
“We’ve kind of set it as our soft launch. We’re targeting it, we’re going to do everything in our power to try to make it happen. We’ve kind of got a long break after that where we could buy ourselves some time if it doesn’t happen, but we are hell-bent on trying to make that happen because I think it would be awesome,” said Cassidy.
In addition to seeing stadium construction completed in time for the upcoming WCBL season, the Cactus Rats will soon unveil new merchandise, ball caps and team uniforms, as well as announce fan events and special promotions.
