It seems likely that Major League Baseball is going to
expand in the near future with the addition of two more teams. Much has been
written recently about speculating where, but Montreal and Portland seem to be
two of the common front runners. The addition of two MLB teams will have a
ripple effect into Minor League Baseball in what could end up with between
10-12 additional franchises. Not all teams have both Class A Short Season and a
Rookie League affiliate, but it is a sure thing that at least five teams will
be added per expansion franchise which could expand to a sixth team should the
parent club desire to field a Rookie League team.
Presently, there are 160 MiLB teams. Here is how the
levels break down with the number of teams in parenthesis:
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30 Triple A – International League (14), Pacific
Coast League (16)
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30 Double A – Eastern League (12), Southern
League (10), Texas League (8)
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30 Class A Advanced – California League (8),
Carolina League (10), Florida State League (12)
-
30 Class A – Midwest League (16), South Atlantic
League (14)
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22 Class A Short Season – New York – Penn League
(14), Northwest League (8)
-
18 Rookie – Appalachian League (10), Pioneer
League (8)
Not to mention a spring training facility which will
field teams to compete in the Arizona League or Gulf Coast League after camp
breaks. There also will be a competitive need to build facilities in the
Dominican Republic to open that pipeline of talent and scouting.
Now onto the fun part – where? Starting with the map of
the current 160 MiLB franchises, https://drive.google.com/open?id=19EmwANTPiH7ukVgz7lqq9xZPtH555IxJ&usp=sharing
- MiLB has covered the United States, finding new large markets is near
impossible. There are two designations of where these new opportunities could
be – cities that do not currently have a Minor League Baseball presence and
cities that have lost their team and could return.
New Cities:
-
Cape Cod,
MA – New York-Penn League or Eastern League. The Cape Cod Baseball League
has offered a fantastic brand of baseball for many years as the most well
established collegiate summer baseball league. Putting a MiLB team in Cape Cod
could be an opportunity, but would be fighting with the CCBL for attendees
during the summer months and likely face challenges to get a ballpark built.
-
Cheyenne,
Wyoming – Pioneer League or Northwest League. Cheyenne has a metropolitan
population of 96,389 and has produced Brandon Nimmo recently as a regular MLB
player. It also would be able to attract fans from Larmie (32,306), Fort
Collins (165,080) and Greely (105,448) all within an hour drive of Cheyenne. The
Northwest League may be a stretch as the closest city in the league is Boise,
but shifting a team like Missoula to the NWL could very well make sense. Would
require building a new ballpark, though the need for seating would likely not
exceed 5,000.
-
Long
Island, NY – International League, Eastern League or New York-Penn League.
The New York Market already has two MLB and two MiLB teams, but Bethpage
Ballpark and the Long Island Ducks play their games over an hour away from the
closest ballpark with plenty of population and baseball fans to go around. They
average 5,698 attendees per game already in the Atlantic League of Professional
Baseball, so if they would be interested in making the jump to affiliated
baseball, it seems like the easiest transition of all names on this list.
-
Sioux
Falls, SD – Midwest League. With a population that has grown from 101,893
in 1990 to 176,888 in 2017, this growing city could certainly justify a MiLB
presence. The Sioux Falls Canaries are an independent league team playing in
Sioux Falls Stadium, which was built in 1941. Modernization would absolutely be
necessary and possibly a new stadium entirely being the biggest roadblocks for
success.
Returners:
Baseball Pilgrimages put together a tremendous list of
“abandoned ballparks” between 1999 and 2015 that is very helpful identifying
some of the opportunities: https://www.baseballpilgrimages.com/ballparks/abandoned.html
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Columbus,
GA - Southern League or South Atlantic League. Golden Park hosted Olympic
Softball in 1996 and most recently had the Columbus Catfish playing home games
in 2008. The ballpark is located in a scenic location on the river, the issue
with Golden Park is that it needs significant improvements.
-
New
Orleans, LA – International League, Pacific Coast League or Texas League.
Soon the Baby Cakes are going to be relocated to Wichita, KS due to dwindling
crowds and with no immediate plan of bringing baseball back to New Orleans. The
ballpark opened in 1997 and with some renovations could easily host baseball
again, but the challenge will be solving attendance issues.
-
Ottawa, ON
– International League or New York-Penn League. This is especially relevant if
Montreal is involved in expansion. The primary concern here would be weather in
the early months of the season. They have Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park
which was opened in 1993 and can sit 10,332 fans and hosted the AAA Ottawa Lynx
until 2007. The New York-Penn League probably makes the most sense which
doesn’t start play until June, but like the Expos, perhaps the International
League could return to Canada and Ottawa.
-
Orlando,
FL – International League, Southern League or Florida State League. Disney
no longer will host Spring Training starting in 2020 and this would be the
easiest spring training site for an expansion club to immediately jump into
with minimal updates needed. Hosting a team after Spring Training would be
possible but probably only would make sense for the Florida State League.
Attracting the International League or Southern League would likely require a
new ballpark in downtown Orlando closer to the population and other
entertainment options. Orlando is the largest non-baseball market with over 2.5
Million people in the metro area.
-
Providence,
RI (Pawtucket) – International League, Eastern League or New York-Penn
League. In 2021, the Red Sox are going to move their AAA team to Worcester, MA
leaving Pawtucket vacant. The ballpark opened in 1942 and does have a need for
renovation to retain a club for the long term. Pawtucket may have been so
successful over the years because of their partnership with their parent club,
the Boston Red Sox. Rhode Island baseball fans will still come to games, but I
would expect a drop off because it would no longer be Red Sox farmhands. This
would be an easy option to get started right away and the Providence metro area
has 1.6 Million people making it the second largest market without baseball
once the PawSox leave for Worchester.
-
Rochester,
MN – Midwest League. There is a baseball presence in Rochester already in
the form of the Rochester Honkers, a member of the Northwoods League
(collegiate summer baseball). Mayo Field was built in 1951 and can sit 2,570
people, so an update for modernization and adding seats would be necessary. The
population of 115,733 has grown from 71,920 in 1990 and is the home of medical
giant, The Mayo Clinic.
-
Savannah, GA
– Southern League or South Atlantic League. Another case of an aged ballpark in
Grayson Stadium that was opened in 1926 though renovated recently in 2009. The
Savannah Bananas boast on their website that they have sold out of most of
their tickets for the season, which is pretty amazing for a collegiate summer
league team. The passion for baseball appears to be as strong as ever and
Savannah is a fantastic cultural city with nearly 400,000 residents, so it
would be a strong return candidate.
-
Shreveport,
LA – Texas League. Fair Grounds Field was opened in 1986 and last played a
Texas League game in 2002 and hosted an American Association (Independent
League) team from 2003-2011, but has sat vacant since. The ballpark itself
looks like there are some nice premium seating options with a club behind home
plate that is behind glass. With the ballpark vacant since 2011, I would
imagine upgrades will be needed, but could be a fit again with nearly 450,000
residents in the metro area. Shreveport is a gambling town with several large
casinos. With sports gambling on the rise, this could be an opportunity for an
ownership group to capitalize on the trend to bring gambling options to a
baseball game.
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Winter
Haven, FL – Florida State League. Like Orlando, this would be another
spring training site for a MLB expansion franchise that could then be used for
Florida State League play. It was last used for spring training purposes by the
Cleveland Indians in 2008. According to the Wikipedia page on the ballpark, the
future of baseball at Chain of Lakes park is in doubt because of it being
positioned on prime real estate being located on a lake and could be
re-purposed. The same school of thought could be made that the park could be
renovated and the surrounding area could become part of the development plan. If
a new MLB franchise were to not want to share a spring training facility, this
would be an option to pursue.
In this hypothetical of Montreal and Portland receiving a
MLB franchise, here is a possibility of how the breakdown of affiliates could look:
MLB: Montreal
AAA: Ottawa (International League)
AA: Long Island (Eastern League)
Class-A Adv: Orlando (Florida State League)
Class-A: Savannah (South Atlantic League)
Class-A SS: Pawtucket (New York Penn League)
MLB: Portland
AAA: New Orleans (International League)
AA: Shreveport (Texas League)
Class-A Adv: Winter Haven (Florida State League)
Class-A: Sioux Falls (Midwest League)
Class-A SS: Cheyenne (Northwest League)
The truth is that there has to be a tremendous amount of
local market support for these projects to come together and with many of these
options being relocated franchises, there is probably good reason why they left
in the first place. With 10-12 team growth on the horizon in the next few years,
now is the time for entrepreneurs looking to get into minor league baseball to
begin building proposals and talking with local government about their options.
Ultimately having a proposal that will make the decision easy for the governing
bodies of MiLB, leagues and parent franchises to buy in on why baseball will
work there and the amenities that they can provide to players.
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