Chicago fans weren’t the only ones to get worked up over this week’s news that the Cubs may have already agreed to move their low Class A affiliation from Peoria to Kane County in the Midwest League, and will sign a player-development contract with the Cougars when the affiliation shuffle begins in September.

The Chicago Sun-Times’ story also caught the attention of Minor League Baseball president Pat O’Conner. Normally a fan of promoting anything and everything related to the minor leagues, O’Conner would rather not have seen this story in print. If the Sun-Times’ report is accurate, it means Kane County and the Cubs could be guilty of tampering.

According to the Professional Baseball Agreement—the rules that guide the relationship between Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball—teams can discuss new affiliations only during a two-week open period that begins on Sept. 16. Any contact before then is prohibited, as is any public comment on other teams’ affiliates.

Asked when Minor League Baseball might open an investigation into possible tampering, O’Conner responded: “As soon as that article hit my desk . . . As soon as we were aware of it, we started to look into it.” 

The PBA outlines in detail how and when major and minor league teams can pursue new player-development contracts. They’re free to renew existing deals at any time. Once the minor league regular season concludes, teams have until Sept. 11 to inform either MLB or MiLB that they intend to seek a new affiliation. From Sept.12-15, the central offices provide their clubs a list of teams seeking new affiliations. Beginning on Sept. 16, teams have 15 days to negotiate a new deal.

“There is a process that is designed to make it as competitively balanced and as fair as possible,” O’Conner said. “If you do have these guys jumping the gun and essentially cheating, then the system’s competitive balance and credibility are out the window.” 

The secretive nature of the affiliation shuffle leads to plenty of speculation throughout the season about who is going where, and it’s not unusual for teams to have arrangements in place before the affiliation shuffle kicks off. If Kane County and the Cubs do end up together, their biggest mistake appears to be letting the news slip in advance.

“We don’t take any of it lightly,” O’Conner said.

Tampering penalties include a fine of $500,000 for a major league team and up to $100,000 for a minor league team, according to the PBA. O’Conner said he has contacted Kane County officials and commissioner Bud Selig’s office regarding the Cubs.

Staying Together

The end of August often brings a rush of affiliation extensions, and a pair of long-term partners extended their deals earlier this week.

The Padres and high Class A Lake Elsinore (California) extended their player-development contract two years through the 2014 season. The Phillies and low Class A Lakewood (South Atlantic) also agreed to a two-year extension. Both relationships date back to 2001.

See here for a complete listing of every team’s affiliation status.

Finishing near the bottom of the Midwest League standings may not be the worst thing to happen to the Peoria Chiefs this season. Seeing their eight-year affiliation with the Chicago Cubs come to an end would certainly top that. And according to the Chicago Sun-Times, that’s exactly what the Cubs plan on doing when their player-development contract with the Chiefs expires after this season.  

The Cubs plan on bringing their low Class A affiliate closer to home, from Peoria to Kane County (whose affiliation with the Royals expires in September) after this season, the Sun-Times reported on Tuesday. Peoria and Chicago have been partners since 2005. They were previously together for 10 seasons from 1985-94.

Of course, minor league franchises are not supposed to negotiate with another team’s big league affiliate, as Minor League Baseball bylaws prohibit franchises from “tampering” with another club’s partner. Minor league teams can only begin negotiating with unattached affiliates when a 15-day open period begins on Sept. 16.

“It definitely caught us off guard,” Chiefs president Rocky Vonachen said of the Cubs’ reported plans, according to the Peoria Journal Star. “It’s the first we’ve heard anything like that.”

The Cubs leaving town would be the latest blow to Peoria during a challenging five-year stretch. A recession that hurt minor league baseball’s overall attendance figures in recent years hit Peoria particularly hard. Average attendance at Peoria’s O’Brien Field fell 26 percent, from 4,241 in 2008 to 3,132 in 2011. With seven home dates remaining this season, the Chiefs’ are averaging 2,776 fans and are on pace for an 11 percent dip from last season.

The slide has hurt the team’s bottom line, as the Chiefs suffered financial losses in four straight seasons from 2008-11, according to a report last December in the Peoria Journal Star.

The Cubs’ shift would also be a blow to the Royals, who relocated to Kane County two years ago after ending their 10-year run in quaint-but-comfortable Burlington. Kane County is regularly the runner-up in Midwest League attendance to the Dayton Dragons (who have sold out every game since debuting in 2000) but is on pace to finish third in average attendance behind the Fort Wayne TinCaps this season. The Cougars are averaging 5,446 fans this season, down 11 percent from 6,123 in 2011. The TinCpas are set to finish their fourth season at Parkview Field with a 5,707 average, up 1.6 percent from 5,612 last season.

A total of 11 teams in the 16-team Midwest League have player development contracts expiring after this season, though several are likely to renew longstanding relationships before the affiliation shuffle kicks off in September.
 

And then there was one.

The Rochester Red Wings’ two-year extension of its player-development contract with the Minnesota Twins late last week leaves the Buffalo Bisons as the only International League franchise without an affiliate lined up for next season.

Buffalo’s status is unlikely to change before Sept. 16, when teams are allowed to begin negotiating with unattached affiliates and the two-week bi-annual affiliation shuffle officially kicks off. That’s because the Bisons, who have been with the Mets the past four years, are expected to ink a deal with the Blue Jays, who have spent the past four years in Las Vegas (Pacific Coast) and appear eager to move their top affiliate closer to home and into a better ballpark.

A Toronto partnership with Buffalo would force the Mets on the move for the third time in six years and leave them with limited options on a home for the next two seasons. Eight of the 16 PCL franchises remain unsigned, though a change is unlikely for the bulk of that list. A potential landing spot for the Mets is Las Vegas, which likely will be the last team standing in the affiliation shuffle because its ballpark, Cashman Field, is among the most out-of-date in Triple-A.

Rochester considered replacing the Twins after posting consecutive 90-loss seasons. But a second-half surge this season—the Red Wings are in the wild-card race and have posted the International League’s best mark since July 1—secured Minnesota another two years in upstate New York. Rochester is sticking with the Twins not because of a lack of quality alternatives but rather the Twins’ commitment to rebuilding its farm system, Red Wings president Naomi Silver said.

“You don’t know exactly who is going to become available (in the affiliation shuffle),” Silver said, “and there was no option that appeared to be better than the one we have . . . We definitely feel that the Twins are an organization that believes, like we do, that the development of minor league players is a critical part of their business model, and it served us very well. We had a couple of rough seasons with them, but in 10 seasons overall they have been a great partner for us. They believe in teaching and training their players and training their players to do it their way. It is a very instructional organization, so we are very pleased to be with them. These are people whose baseball savvy we respect very much.”

In other affiliation news, the Blue Jays extended its PDC with low Class A Lansing (Midwest) for another two years through the 2014 season. The two sides have been together since 2005 and the Blue Jays sent the Lugnuts three of their best young pitchers this season in Justin Nicolino (8-4, 2.63), Aaron Sanchez (8-3, 2.27) and Noah Syndergaard (7-4, 2.79). Lansing rolled to the Midwest League’s first-half title and, despite a second-half dip, still sport the circuit’s best overall record at 76-47. 
 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is preparing to drop one of the most iconic names in baseball for a new one that promises to be a bit, well, less traditional.

So long, Yankees.

The Triple-A International League franchise, which is set to debut a new ballpark next season after spending all of 2012 on the road, announced late last week that a new team identity will be coming to town as well. They’ll remain Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, as the team hopes to draw fans from both cities. They sought fan input on potential new nicknames and received over 2,700 submissions before narrowing that list down to six. Though they are again asking the public to vote for its favorite, the team plans to make the final decision on their future moniker.

“Everyone has got their opinion and we truly appreciate everyone’s opinion,” said new Scranton/Wilkes-Barre general manager Rob Crain, who has been on the job for about a month after spending six years with Triple-A Omaha. “We’ll be able to tie this team name into the local community better than we ever in team history.”

And just how does Scranton/Wilkes-Barre plan to connect local tradition to baseball? Will they follow the Albuquerque Isotopes’ model and incorporate some pop-culture references—perhaps the Dunder Mifflins?

Not exactly, but there does appear to be a couple of winners among the six candidates listed below. (Descriptions of each name were written by the team, not this author. Fans can vote for their favorite at the team’s website.)

[...] Continue Reading »

UPDATE: Since this story was originally published, the El Paso city council approved a proposal to build a Triple-A ballpark.

The city council voted 6-2 to partner with MountainStar Sports Group LLC on a $50 million downtown stadium to be built on the site of the current city hall. The group plans to finance the ballpark with a proposed hotel tax increase, which will go on the ballot in November, and hopes to have the ballpark completed by the start of the 2014 season.

The investment group, which is headed by local real estate magnate William Hunt and oil and gas tycoon Paul Foster, still needs to secure a franchise. The only Triple-A team on the market is the Tucson Padres, which is owned by former Padres CEO Jeff Moorad. Pacific Coast League president Branch Rickey would not confirm which team MountainStar is interested in, but says the league has been contacted by the group.

"We’ve been approached by an investor group in El Paso that would like to buy a PCL franchise and relocate it to El Paso," Rickey said this afternoon. "We are planning to have a meeting with them."

Previous: Affiliated baseball may be on the way back to El Paso, Texas.

The city that saw its Double-A Texas League affiliate leave town after the 2004 season for a new ballpark in Springfield, Mo., is considering building a new $50 million stadium of its own to play host to a Triple-A franchise. The city council is expected to vote today on whether to move ahead with the project, which will be contingent on voters approving an increased hotel tax in November.

The project will also be contingent on the local investment group MountainStar Sports Group LLC, which is led by real estate magnate William Hunt and oil and gas tycoon Paul Foster, purchasing a Pacific Coast League franchise to bring to El Paso. The only PCL franchise on the market is the Tucson Padres, which former San Diego Padres CEO Jeff Moorad purchased two years ago when the club was forced to leave Portland, Ore., after then-owner Merritt Paulson converted its ballpark into a soccer-only facility. Moorad had hoped to relocate the team to a new ballpark in the San Diego suburb of Escondido, but financing for the project fell through amid California’s budget crisis and Moorad has since left his post with the Padres after MLB rejected his bid to purchase the team.

Minor League Baseball had considered moving the Portland franchise to El Paso when it was looking for a temporary landing spot for the team after the 2010 season. MILB ultimately passed on El Paso amid concerns about where the team would play and the city’s demographics—in particular it’s high poverty rate—and settled on Tucson, which had lost its PCL franchise just two years earlier.

UPDATE: What a difference a day—and a good drainage system—makes.

Less than 24 hours after the Clearwater Threshers' playing field was left submerged from the heavy rains of Tropical Storm Debby, Bright House Field is almost as good as new. The standing water that covered Bright House Field is largely gone. The flooded dugouts are almost empty and the soggy team offices are airing out.

"The field took a lot of water, but we have a great drainage system here," Threshers media relations assistant Joe Charlton said. "It's a little damp on the ground floor level. It's amazing, if you look at a picture yesterday, the whole field was flooded. But look now and you wouldn't even know it rained." 

. . . The Clearwater Threshers aren't scheduled to play a home game until Thursday, which appears to be fortunate considering the mess Tropical Storm Debby has made of the Florida State League affiliate's ballpark. 

The slow-moving storm all-but erased the FSL's schedule yesterday as it dumped 12 inches of rain in various parts of western and central Florida. Clearwater's Bright House Field appeared particularly hard hit, evidenced by a photo from Threshers pitcher Justin De Fratus showing the usually picturesque playing field completely submerged. Calls to Threshers management and Minor League Baseball headquarters—located in St. Petersburg, Fla.—were (understandably) not immediately returned.

Only one of the FSL's six games was played yesterday. No information on today's cancellations had been announced.

After 10 years of trying, the Charlotte Knights are finally getting their new ballpark.

The Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 tonight to contribute $8 million toward a new downtown ballpark, the final piece of a $54 million project that is scheduled to be completed by Opening Day 2014. The Knights, a Triple-A International League affiliate that plays roughly 30 minutes south of Charlotte in Fort Mill, S.C., will contribute $38 million to construction costs–with a significant portion of those funds coming from a naming-rights agreement with BB&T Corp.

Charlotte has struggled to draw crowds to its current home and was the only IL franchise last season to total fewer than 300,000 spectators. The team expects to double that number at its future home.  

"The opportunities this will present for that club from a business perspective cannot be overstated," International League president Randy Mobley said earlier today.

The Knights become the second International League franchise to gain approval for a new ballpark this year. Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre broke ground on a new stadium this spring that is expected to open by the start of next season. No new IL ballparks had opened since the Columbus Clippers and Gwinnett Braves each debuted new venues in 2009.

The Charlotte Knights’ most-important pitch of the night—if not the decade—will take place about 400 miles away from the International League affiliate’s game at the Columbus Clippers’ Huntington Park.

The Knights’ long quest for a new ballpark may come to an end this evening when the Charlotte City Council votes on the team’s latest, and arguably best, proposal for a new home tonight. The team is seeking to build a new $54 million ballpark in downtown Charlotte—about 30 minutes from its current base in Fort Mill, S.C.—and is asking the city to donate $8 million toward the project. The Knights would pay $38 million—funded largely from a naming rights deal with BB&T Corp—while Mecklenburg (N.C.) County would contribute $8 million and lease the 8-acre stadium site to the team for $1 a year.  

The proposal seems to have enough support on the city council—particularly since the team lowered its original request from $11 million and withdrew a request for a $2.5 million property tax rebate—and would bring an end to a saga that had been frequently delayed by a series of lawsuits from a local attorney on the use of the property. The new ballpark, scheduled to open in time for the 2014 season, would significantly alter the fortunes of a franchise that last season finished last among IL teams in attendance. Team officials have said they would draw closer to 600,000 fans at the new ballpark.

“It would be a 180-degree turn to be able to have that franchise in (a downtown) ballpark,” International League president Randy Mobley said this afternoon. “I think all of us are convinced that this would have the potential to be the best set up in the league. It will certainly be as good as any, but it has the potential to be better than anything we have going . . . The opportunities this will present for that club from a business perspective cannot be overstated.”

Jimmie Lee Solomon, who once oversaw all of Major League Baseball's on-field operations, is now out at MLB.

Two baseball sources confirmed that Solomon, whose current position was executive vice president of business development, had been fired by MLB after a 21-year career there. When reached by telephone Tuesday evening, Solomon declined to comment.

One MLB source said Solomon's firing became known on Monday, though he said no official announcement had been made to employees.

(UPDATE: On Thursday evening, MLB announced in a press release that Solomon had resigned from his position. As part of the statement, commissioner Bud Selig thanked Solomon "for his 20-plus years of service" and "contributions he has made in a number of different areas throughout the game.")

Solomon’s dismissal comes nearly two years to the day after he was reassigned from his post as executive vice president of baseball operations, in which he oversaw all on-field activities of MLB—including security and umpiring. He had held the position since replacing Sandy Alderson in 2005, and was reassigned by commissioner Bud Selig after an uproar over the poor quality of umpiring and one week after umpire Jim Joyce blew a call that cost then-Tigers pitcher Armando Gallaraga a perfect game.

After his reassignment, Solomon had much less responsibility, chiefly overseeing MLB's relationship with the minor leagues, its Urban Youth Academies and the Civil Rights Game. Even so, those contacted by Baseball America said Solomon’s dismissal comes as a surprise. Last year Solomon helped negotiate a six-year extension of the Professional Baseball Agreement with Minor League Baseball, keeping the relationship between the majors and minors in tact through the 2020 season.  

Solomon joined MLB in 1991 as director of minor league operations and steadily climbed baseball’s corporate ladder. He played a key role in many of MLB’s recent diversity initiatives, including the development of the Urban Youth Academies and the growth of the Civil Rights Game, and helped add the Futures Game to baseball’s all-star celebration. Before joining MLB, Solomon spent 10 years as a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of the Baker & Hostetler law firm and primarily served corporate and sports industry clients.

The Memphis Redbirds' losing ways have hardly kept the fans away.

The Redbirds (Pacific Coast) extended their losing streak to eight games over the weekend, but still managed to attract nearly 40,000 fans to AutoZone Park over a three-day stretch. Memphis drew 14,208 fans to its 8-3 loss against Colorado Springs on Saturday night, the first time the team has topped the 14,000 mark since 2006. That crowd was sandwiched between an 11,841 turnout on Friday night and 11,035 yesterday, and the three-game total of 37,041 was AutoZone Park’s largest in at least six years, Memphis general manager Ben Weiss said.

"To have three days in a row of over 10,000 paid (fans) is very unique," Weiss said.

A unique partnership played a big role in the turnout, as the Redbirds hosted Baptist Memorial Hospital’s 100th anniversary celebration. The event was three years in the making, Weiss said, and accounted for over 16,000 group sales tickets. The Baptist Memorial group took over the ballpark's right-field picnic area and members of the group sang the National Anthem each night, took part in player introductions on the field and received free access to the boardwalk kid's zone. As part of the deal, the group took over naming rights for the postgame fireworks shows.

"They essentially had sponsorship off all three days in the weekend," Weiss said.

The Redbirds’ recent success has not been limited to last weekend. The team’s average attendance increased 8.3 percent to 7,050 last season, and Weiss said they are already ahead of that pace in 2012. Memphis is averaging 7,080 fans in 21 openings (third in the Pacific Coast League) compared to 5,943 in 19 openings at this time last year.

“This year could be a very strong year for us,” Weiss said.

Despite its recent success, Memphis’ long-term future remains murky. The team still carries significant debt from the $80.5 million construction of AutoZone Park in 2000, which was largely financed by $72 million in tax-free bonds. In March 2009, the team defaulted on one of its three annual $1.625 million bond payments, leading bondholders to replace the team’s local management group, Blues City Baseball, with Philadelphia-based Comcast Spectator.

According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the team faces a $22.5 million deficit with $57.4 million remaining on its tax-exempt bonds. AutoZone Park, after depreciation, is worth $41.2 million. In addition, the 15-year leases on the stadium’s 38 luxury suites are set to expire after the 2014 season. “We’re already working to renew those suites,” Weiss said. “It’s a couple years down the road, but it’s certainly on the radar.”

The team has greater flexibility in meeting its bond payments since its debt was consolidated when a New York City private equity firm purchased it for a discounted $24 million in 2010. That flexibility allowed the franchise to focus on ballpark improvement projects, including a new 60-foot-by-60-foot scoreboard that Weiss says is the largest in the minor leagues.

“We have some new bondholders that . . . allow us to do our jobs and not be buried underneath trying to make those bond payments,” Weiss said. “It helps having a partner with the bond group. I can’t speak to the past, but I’m guessing that it wasn’t so much of a partnership five years ago. The last three years, we’ve been allowed to do our jobs, which at the end of the day is sell tickets.”

Consider this the first scheduling hiccup of the Empire State Yankees' 144-game road trip.

Andy Pettitte is working himself into shape as he comes out of retirement with the Yankees, and his rehab start on Sunday with Triple-A Empire State was scheduled for Dwyer Stadium in Batavia, N.Y., home of the New York-Penn League's Batavia Muckdogs.

The International League franchise, more familiar as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, is on the road all season while its ballpark in Pennsylvania goes through a $43.3 million renovation. It's playing most of its games at Rochester's Frontier Field, home of the fellow IL member Red Wings.

The Yankees are playing at a few other nearby ballparks as well, however, and Sunday's game against Pawtucket was scheduled for Batavia. But no longer. The parent Yankees would prefer Pettite to pitch at a Triple-A facility, rather than a short-season ballpark.

There's also the matter of Dwyer Stadium's capacity of 2,600. With Pettitte scheduled to be on the mound, a huge crowd should turn out. And with the Red Wings bearing the brunt of operating a second franchise this season, they should welcome the bigger gate.

"The Yankees would prefer to have Andy Pettitte pitching at a Triple-A stadium in front of a large crowd," Red Wings president Naomi Silver said Thursday. "It's more of the environment he is used to pitching in. It is true that we would top out at about 2,000 people in Batavia, while here at Frontier Field it would be 11,000 or 12,000 people . . .

"This has certainly been a decision in (the Yankees') hands. We speculated a bit that Sunday might be his day to pitch, that it could happen. We really only learned of their decision 45 minutes ago."

One complication, however: The Red Wings were already scheduled to play at home on Sunday. In order to accommodate the Yankees' request, that game against the Buffalo Bisons will now be played as part of a doubleheader on Saturday. The Red Wings, who also own and operate the Muckdogs, have said fans who had already purchased tickets for the game in Batavia will be able to use them in Rochester.

Rochester is serving as the home base for Empire State during its road trip. The Yankees were scheduled to play 37 of their home games in Rochester, seven in neighboring Batavia and the remaining dates at four other International League franchises. 

An Eastern League team may one day move to Ottawa. That day, however, is not likely to come next season.

Beacon Sports, the Boston finance group that says it is working on behalf of an unnamed Eastern League team, and the City of Ottawa have yet to agree on a lease for Ottawa Stadium and how to spend the roughly $7.7 million earmarked for renovations to the ballpark. That delay makes it unlikely the ballpark will be ready for a team next season.

“It’s very ambitious thinking on the part of people not involved in the game,” Eastern League president Joe McEeacharn said of the 2013 timeline. “It’s hard to imagine a scenario (for a team being in Ottawa next season) at this point, the beginning of May.”

Beacon Sports chief operating officer Richard Billings said the company hopes to have a renovation plan and stadium lease completed in the next 30 days and believes that will allow enough time to get that ballpark done before Opening Day 2013. However, he concedes, “If we don’t get something accomplished in short order, it would make 2013 a tough situation. We’re still operating on the basis that we are trying to relocate the team in 2013.” [...] Continue Reading »

The wrecking ball is finally swinging in Scranton.

Two months after the demolition of PNC Field was originally scheduled to begin, and a month after an April 1 deadline set by the International League came and went, the Yankees' $43.3 million renovation of PNC Field will officially kick off during a ceremonial groundbreaking scheduled for today. The event comes four days after an agreement was reached in the frequently delayed $14.6 million sale of the franchise by Lackawanna County (Pa.) Multipurpose Stadium Authority to SWB Yankees LLC—the entity made up of the New York Yankees and Mandalay Baseball Properties that has been operating the team since 2007.

The deal has been lauded by local officials as a significant upgrade on the original agreement reached five years ago when Mandalay took over operations of the team. And while there still seems to be plenty of hand-wringing in Scranton about new ownership pulling the team out of town someday, the new agreement puts more financial responsibility on the Yankees and Mandalay. Proceeds of the sale are being put toward the ballpark renovation—which is why construction could not begin until an agreement was reached. SWB Yankees LLC agreed to a 30-year lease at $900,000 annually—up $150,000 from the original agreement in order to pay for design changes—and will contribute to ballpark maintenance and improvements.   

"We are proud of our growing partnership with the New York Yankees and committed to creating a great experience for our team’s fans in northeastern Pennsylvania,” Mandalay Baseball chairman Peter Guber said in a release. “We believe that this venue will be among the finest field of dreams in professional minor league baseball and an important jewel in Mandalay’s professional sports assets and experiences.”

There is reason to believe Guber. The area embraced the Yankees when they came to town in 2007. Scranton ranked fourth in the International League in average attendance (8,802) in its first year as a Yankees affiliate, a 41 percent increase from the previous season. The team held strong in 2008 with a 7,147 average, good for eighth in the IL, but attendance nosedived the following three seasons, as fans were turned off by rising ticket prices, a perceived corporate management style by Mandalay and a series of structural problems at PNC Field. In 2011, the team finished second-to-last in the 14-team IL with a 4,586 average.

The Yankees have plenty of work to do over the next 11 months beyond having the new ballpark ready for Opening Day 2013. They will need to reunite with the community after the team's season-long road trip this season. Part of that process will be hiring a new face of the franchise to replace Kristen Rose, who stepped down as president last week.

“This is truly a great day for Lackawanna County because baseball is back,” county commissioner Patrick O’Malley said in the release.  “The negotiations were long and thought out, but they were vital for the proper evaluation of this project.”

It took nearly two years, but the sale of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees was finally completed this morning.

The Lackawanna County (Pa.) Multipurpose Stadium Authority signed off on the $14.6 million sale of the team to SWB Yankees LLC—the entity made up of Mandalay Baseball Properties and the New York Yankees that currently operates the team—ending a process that began in November 2010. The proceeds of the transaction will be put toward the $43.3 million renovation of PNC FIeld—the price went up $3.3 million since the original agreement—and demolition work may begin as soon as tomorrow. There certainly is reason to rush, as construction was originally scheduled to begin in March and the International League had set an April 1 deadline for work to start in order for the project to be completed by Opening Day next season. The Yankees are playing their entire 144-game schedule on the road this season; a scenario that the International League will not allow again next season, IL president Randy Mobley previously said.

Ewing Cole principal Craig Schmitt, who is overseeing the project, had said at the Winter Meetings last December that a 12-month schedule for construction would be a bit of a rush but doable. At a public hearing last night,construction manager Greg Butz called the new schedule "challenging," but added, "It can definitely be done," according to the Citizen's Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.). 

Though an agreement has been reached, the sale still needs to be approved by the International League, Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball. Mobley has previously said that he did not expect any problems to arise during the approval process, but he could not be sure until the paperwork has been filed. So that means construction will begin before any cash changes hands.

So with everything moving ahead so quickly now, why did the deal take so long to complete?

At a public hearing last night, local officials lauded a new agreement as far more beneficial for taxpayers and the future of local minor league baseball than the deal that was struck in late 2010. The Yankees will pay $750,000 annually over the 30-year lease that could extend to 50 years. Notable changes to the agreement include ownership agreeing to contribute to the costs of ballpark maintenance and future repairs as well as covering any cost overrun during construction. 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees president Kristen Rose has resigned after nearly four years on the job.

Rose will remain with Mandalay Baseball Properties, which operates the International League franchise and is in the process of purchasing it with the New York Yankees, as an executive vice president. According to a team press release published by the Scranton Times-Tribune, Rose is leaving to be closer to her family.

"I remain optimistic about the future of baseball in Scranton Wilkes-Barre, especially with the reconstructed stadium coming on-line," Rose said in the press release. "Although I will miss being a part of the next chapter, I am excited about my new venture and continuing my relationship with Mandalay Baseball Properties.”

Rose joined Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in December 2008 following the team's second season as a Yankees affiliate and she has had to navigate some challenging waters as the face of the franchise. Attendance at PNC Park has sagged dramatically after the Yankees' debut, as problems with the aging ballpark and Mandalay's sometimes corporate approach has alienated some of the fanbase. The team created a local uproar this spring when it changed its name to the "Empire State Yankees" as it prepared for a season-long road trip.

Brighter days do appear to be ahead for the franchise, as their stadium is scheduled to undergo a $40 million renovation and be ready for Opening Day 2013. However, construction that was expected to start early this spring has yet to begin due to a delay in completing the sale of the team from Lackawanna County to SWB Yankees LLC—the entity made of Mandalay Baseball and the New York Yankees that currently operates the team. A self-imposed April 1 deadline for the start of construction came and went without a deal. In the meantime, the Yankees are playing their entire 144-game schedule on the road—including a series starting tonight at the home of the short-season Batavia Muckdogs (New York-Penn League).

One of the first steps to building a new ballpark in Wilmington, N.C., did not come without a bit of controversy.

The Wilmington city council dropped its plan to hire Ripken Design as project manager for the proposed $40 million facility after Mandalay Baseball and the Atlanta Braves—who have formed an ownership group that plans to bring a Carolina League franchise to the city—complained that Ripken could have a conflict of interest. The city council voted last night to instead hire National Sports Service to study the cost, benefits and potential location of a new ballpark.

Ripken Design is part of Ripken Baseball, the company run by Cal Ripken Jr. that also owns or operates three minor league franchises: the Aberdeen IronBirds (New York-Penn), Augusta GreenJackets (South Atlantic) and Charlotte Stone Crabs (Florida State). Mandalay and the Braves were concerned that they could end up competing with Ripken Baseball for the Wilmington market, or other ones, and they were not comfortable sharing information with a competitor.

National Sports Services, based in Topeka, Kan., was second to Ripken Design on the list of 10 groups proposed by city staff. The company is operated by Bill Davidson, who serves as CEO of the Harrisburg Senators (Eastern) and was previously part of the Chattanooga Lookouts (Southern) ownership group. 

[...] Continue Reading »

Even Carolina Mudcats general manager Joe Kremer, who has spent 22 years working in minor league baseball, had never experienced anything quite like the incident after Tuesday night's Carolina League game against the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

A man was arrested for sneaking into the visiting clubhouse at Five County Stadium and allegedly secretly videotaping Wilmington players as they changed and showered following the game. A team maintenance worker confronted 32-year-old LaDarryl Strong in the clubhouse and several employees prevented him from fleeing the ballpark until police arrived. Strong, who told police that he works with special needs children in the Lenoir County (N.C.) school system, was arrested and charged with felony secret peeping, first-degree trespass, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has been released on bond.

"I do commend my staff for doing their job and quick thinking. It was a very unfortunate incident," Kremer said.

Police searched Strong's house and removed 20 computers. Kremer said that Strong told police while being arrested that he had videotaped other locker rooms. Kremer said that there is no indication Strong had previously done this in Carolina.

"We absolutely expect to find other crimes on the videos," Zebulon police chief Tim Hayworth told WRAL.com and described the stadium incident as a "very bold" crime that a first-time offender would never attempt.

Kremer said Strong managed to sneak into the fenced-in clubhouse area behind the ballpark when the team opened the back gates for the Blue Rocks' team bus. Posed as a maintenance worker wearing blue plastic gloves, Strong walked into the visiting locker room while the clubhouse attendant was in the laundry room and was able to videotape players for several minutes without being noticed. When confronted, Strong told Mudcats staff that he was looking for a team schedule.

The Mudcats will not make any significant changes to their security procedures but will have an employee stationed outside the clubhouses, Kremer said, noting that the area is usually busy with staff after games. Kremer said he spoke with Wilmington manager Vance Wilson and Royals farm director Scott Sharp, who he said were both understanding and appreciative of the Mudcats' work to apprehend Strong.

(updated) Hopes for Carolina League baseball coming to Wilmington, N.C., took a significant step forward when the Atlanta Braves and Mandalay Baseball Properties announced this morning at al press conference that they have a plan in place to privately finance and build a new ballpark.

In February, Mandalay and the Braves formed a joint ownership group and reached an agreement in principle to purchase the Lynchburg Hillcats and move the franchise to Wilmington. The deal was contingent on the group building a new ballpark on the riverfront in downtown Wilmington, and in the following months local leaders and residents raised concerns about using public money to build the park.

The group’s announcement is an effort to get over the biggest hurdle in bringing minor league baseball to back to Wilmington. The city had a Southern League franchise in 1995-96, and a South Atlantic League franchise in 2001, but both quickly moved to greener pastures when their stadium plans fell through. The teams played at UNC Wilmington’s ballpark, which is not a viable long-term alternative.

The project would still require public money. Braves executive vice president of business operations Mike Plant, who represented the team at the press conference in Wilmington, said the private-public partnership creates greater flexibility and protects the city against hazards like cost overrun.

“It is still a private-public partnership that is driven by the public sector and still requires everyone having an investment in the project, including the city,” Plant said in a telephone interview after the press conference. “This now gives us an opportunity to put the whole development team together and put another viable option in front of the city council.”

The Braves and Mandalay will present the plan to the council in mid-May, Plant said, adding that they may propose several options for the council to consider. Plant believes the new financing model creates the best opportunity to have the ballpark completed in time for the 2014 season.

One benefit to private financing is that it will create the opportunity for lower annual payments on the construction debt, Plant said. Through private financing, the ownership group will be able to secure a 30-year loan, whereas the city is only allowed to take on 20 years of debt.

“This is a private initiative now, but it’s a public-private partnership,” Mandalay president of baseball development Rich Neumann said at the press conference.

The Braves own all of their minor league affiliates except at the high Class A level, and Plant points to the organization’s experience in building ballparks through a private-public financing model as a reason why he believes this project can get done.

“There is strong interest in the community (for the project),” Plant said. “Yes, there is an opposition group, but there always is opposition. The majority of people want to see this happen, and the city leadership is extremely supportive. They see the value . . .

“And one thing I keep reiterating to people is this is Braves country. We want to be here.”

The Oklahoma City RedHawks (Pacific Coast) kicked off their season last night as their ballpark changed names for the second time in less than 48 hours.

The Triple-A franchise, in its second year since being purchased by Mandalay Baseball Properties, announced on Wednesday that it had sold the stadium's naming rights to the local Chickasaw Nation tribe. The new name for the park was going to be Newcastle Field at Bricktown, incorporating the name of one the tribe's casinos, which is in the Oklahoma City suburb of Newcastle.

However, some local officials objected to the ballpark being named after a casino, while others resented the city-owned park being named for another town. So the team changed course yesterday and announced that the ballpark will instead be called Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. 

Having the name of one the state's historic tribes, not one of its casinos, on the ballpark was much more appealing to local officials, the Oklahoman reported yesterday.

“Out of consideration for the expressed concerns of Oklahoma City citizens, we have decided to revisit the name,” Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby said in a statement.

• In other ballpark news, the International League's Empire State Yankees (their name this year instead of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) kicked off their 144-game road trip last night in Lehigh Valley as local officials in Pennsylvania continue to work on completing the sale of the team to SWB Yankees LLC. An April 1 deadline had been set for the sale to be complete, so that construction could begin in time for the proposed $40 million ballpark to be ready by Opening Day 2013. Local officials announced today that even though no deal has been reached, the two sides are close enough that contractors can begin preparing for the demolition of PNC Field.

The Yankees are playing their home games at six different ballparks this season while PNC Field gets a facelift. Rochester, N.Y., will serve as the team's base, and they will play 37 of their 82 home games at the Red Wings ballpark.

[...] Continue Reading »

After weeks of spoiling much of the country with spring-like conditions, Mother Nature returned to early-March form for the start of the minor league season last night.

Cold and rainy conditions made a great night not to be at the ballpark in places like low Class A Asheville and Triple-A Norfolk–where rainouts spoiled Opening Day for two Orioles' four affiliates. In all, six games were rained out, including five in the South Atlantic League, while several played on in cold conditions–temperatures dipped into 50s at Triple-A Durham.

The conditions dampened a key date on the minor league calendar. Along with the Fourth of July, Opening Day is as close to a sure thing as you get in the minor leagues, as the start of the season typically leads to full houses. Losing that revenue can prove costly for a team's bottom line, particularly smaller-market teams at the lower levels whose seasons can be more heavily impacted by one bad night than their Triple-A brethren.

The night was not lost everywhere. The Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos attracted 5,038 for its debut as the Southern League's newest franchise. The price was right in Brevard County (Florida State), where free admission attracted 4,637 fans, and San Antonio (Texas), whose $1 concessions helped the Missions top the TL with 7,032 fans.

And, of course, it would not be the minor leagues without some unique promotions beyond staples like "Thirsty Thursdays" and "Magnet Schedule Giveaways." Ryan Howard may not be on the Phillies Opening Day roster, but he was a still a hit in Reading, as the R-Phils passed out a double-bobblehead of the first baseman and another favorite son–the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor. Fellow Eastern League affiliate Binghamton welcomed fans to the ballpark with a free tailgate party.

Several teams kicked off the season with free concerts, including the Iowa Cubs (Pacific Coast), Jackson Generals (Southern) and Dunedin Blue Jays (Florida State)–which rolled out a band called the Black Honkeys (no joke). The Quad Cities River Bandits (Midwest) threw a parade and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Midwest) offered fans a choice of five bobbleheads.

See below for a breakdown of every team's promotions and attendance from last night's game. It should be noted that while promotions can impact a team's performance at the gate, it is not the only factor–the ballpark, concessions, weather, and the arrival of young phenoms certainly play a role (though the Syracuse Chiefs hardly made the most of Bryce Harper's Triple-A debut last night).