Latest in Sky Sox affiliation saga - Latest: Upgrades confirmed in San Antonio's Stadium

[MadThinker88]

I just hope Stearns learned from Melvin's handling of Nashville (not saying that Doug did anything wrong) and not sign a 2 year extension this offseason, only to loose the affiliate to Texas in the fall of 2018

 

I can almost guarantee the Astros will want to partner up with the new San Antonio franchise.

That will free up Fresno.

The issue is, until the new stadium in San Antonio opens up in 2019, I doubt anyone will want to move.

Even then, would the Brewers want to affiliate with Fresno?

 

I imagine maybe the Dodgers would want Fresno and the Brewers could land in Oklahoma City?

 

http://ballparkdigest.com/200905261902/minor-league-baseball/news/affiliate-dance-2012

According to link, the OKC team is partly owned by the Dodgers. I doubt they would move without something changing in that relationship.

 

Earlier in this thread there was a link to an item from Baseball America where it was being suggested that the Brewer affiliate would end up being Fresno...

[DHonks]

Nobody ever wants to be in Fresno. It's a dump you drive through, but don't hope to stay...like Gary. Why are the Astros in Fresno? They helped Round Rock become a AAA town...when did that affiliation end?

[jerichoholicninja]

Open up the checkbook and buy your own AAA team Mark and move it where ever you want. This is the obvious answer.

[MadThinker88]

Open up the checkbook and buy your own AAA team Mark and move it where ever you want. This is the obvious answer.

 

Not a bad option but attempting to relocate a team to another town isn't a snap of the fingers...

Issues of location & league balance need to be considered..

 

After the Indians got involved with the Columbus (GA) RedStixx (South Atlantic League) it took years to get the franchise moved to Lake County (OH) and then another couple of years to get realigned and part of the Midwest League..

[jerichoholicninja]

Open up the checkbook and buy your own AAA team Mark and move it where ever you want. This is the obvious answer.

 

Not a bad option but attempting to relocate a team to another town isn't a snap of the fingers...

Issues of location & league balance need to be considered..

 

After the Indians got involved with Columbus RedStixx (South Atlantic League) it took years to get the franchise moved to Lake County (OH) and then another of years to get realigned and part of the Midwest League..

 

The Colorado Springs move is going to lead to like 4 other teams moving. I think moving one team would be easy. Especially since there is only one AAA league as opposed to the multiple leagues at every other level, so location is really irrelevant. If Nashville can play in the Pacific Coast League, then geography is meaningless.

[MadThinker88]

Open up the checkbook and buy your own AAA team Mark and move it where ever you want. This is the obvious answer.

 

Not a bad option but attempting to relocate a team to another town isn't a snap of the fingers...

Issues of location & league balance need to be considered..

 

After the Indians got involved with Columbus RedStixx (South Atlantic League) it took years to get the franchise moved to Lake County (OH) and then another of years to get realigned and part of the Midwest League..

 

The Colorado Springs move is going to lead to like 4 other teams moving. I think moving one team would be easy. Especially since there is only one AAA league as opposed to the multiple leagues at every other level, so location is really irrelevant. If Nashville can play in the Pacific Coast League, then geography is meaningless.

 

There are 2 AAA leagues - the PCL and the International League (that already has 3 unbalanced divisions)..

[And That]

The PCL spans about 3/4 of the continental United States... I'd have to think there's somewhere between Nashville and Tacoma to move a AAA team such as Fresno without having to do too much divisional realignment, not that that even matters too much in AAA.

[MrTPlush]

So the real questions is if the Brewers would sign a 4 year contract with the Sky Sox to lock up a move into a brand new facility. A 4 year contract likely gets them 2 years in Colorado and then 2 years in San Antonio...potentially longer. This would avoid a Nashville type scenario.

 

Thinking probably not since Colorado is so bad, but then again getting a brand new facility is really attractive for teams.

[Mass Haas]

Brewers looking for suitable Class AAA affiliate that will stand test of time

Tom Haudricourt, Journal-Sentinel

[MadThinker88]

Brewers looking for suitable Class AAA affiliate that will stand test of time

Tom Haudricourt, Journal-Sentinel

 

Interesting read...

 

One other interesting wrinkle NOT being discussed at this point (& needs to be looked at) is the comments made about major league expansion earlier this week.

 

Not sure where the expansion clubs will be but it will have some impact on the minor league setup. There is a chance that one (or both) expansion spots will be current spots of AAA clubs. Even if not a current minor league host city, there will need to be two more host cities on each level. Those new organizations will need farm systems as well..

[brewmann04]

it a sure bet the brewers will lose out on another new franchise.

[JohnBriggs12]

Last paragraph of Haudricourt's story is most interesting. Why not Madison?

[FVBrewerFan]

Last paragraph of Haudricourt's story is most interesting. Why not Madison?

 

Just guessing, but I don't think they have a AAA worthy stadium do they? And questionable whether Madison would have the necessary attendance to make it work?

[And That]

Why not Madison?

No stadium and too close to Milwaukee. They'd be competing against themselves for attendance.

[Mudville9]

Maybe we can build one in Miami then. The Marlins never draw a crowd.

[MrTPlush]

Last paragraph of Haudricourt's story is most interesting. Why not Madison?

 

Just guessing, but I don't think they have a AAA worthy stadium do they? And questionable whether Madison would have the necessary attendance to make it work?

 

The Madison Mallards draw 6,200 and they are just a summer league for college players. Now I would imagine a AAA team would be a lot more attractive to watch and could bump up the attends numbers. Not sure if it is a lot more expensive though pushing away families...still I think they could draw more than the Mallards currently do.

 

I don't think they would really effect Brewers attendance that much...but that is hard to say without it actually happening. Much more attractive to have it father away though I would imagine.

[1992casey]

A Madison triple-A team would need to improve upon the Mallards' attendance average and do it over the course of a season that's two months longer, including the cold months of April & May.

 

Madison was in the Midwest League for a while. I don't know what the attendance situation was, but I'm sure the stadium situation was the main reason the team left.

[MrTPlush]

I think they could sustain a AAA team. Even a 6,000 average is well above the bottom for AAA teams. The lack of stadium would be a huge problem and I don't know what the Mallards being there already would cause.

 

At least they wouldn't be burning in the desert or playing in space like they are now.

[Mass Haas]

San Antonio mayor all in for AAA baseball stadium

 

Meanwhile, the Express-News reports that several in the San Antonio business and leadership community have questions and opinions, especially around hopes of attracting a major league over a minor league baseball team.

 

“I think the potential is there to get the support, but I think what we need is more information on the details. I’ve heard a lot of talk about downtown locations, I think there is definitely a desire to get something downtown, but it needs to make sense,” Richard Perez, president and CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, told the Express-News. “There’s just a lot of questions that need to be answered before the business community can come in fully supportive.

 

“I think what this business community has wanted has been Major League Baseball, NFL, MLS — the big leagues,” Perez said. “We are still kind of relegated to Triple-A ball, which is not a bad thing, but we’ve been shooting our sights as a business community for the larger opportunity.”

[NeedMoreFans]

I look at it this way...Madison is a similar size to Des Moines, so the population is large enough to support a AAA team. Also, there are several AAA teams that are just as close if not closer to their parent teams (Seattle/Tacoma, Atlanta/Gwinnett, Boston/Pawtuckett, just to name some). Also, ticket prices for the Mallards are very similar to that of the Iowa Cubs, so as long as ticket prices wouldn't change, I think they would be a draw in May-August. I also don't think that having a team in Madison would stop people from going to Brewer games. Right now, I don't get to many Brewer games because I have two small kids, and I'm limited to day games if I take them. In Madison, we can go to a Mallard's game, stay for an hour and a half or so and not feel like I've been cheated out of money, and it is very kid friendly. Maintaining the family-friendly atmosphere would be a must for a AAA team.

 

As others have said, the stadium would be an issue. Warner Park just had a bunch of renovations done about 5 years ago, and while I think they could expand it to seat 10,000, it would be difficult and it would have to be privately funded.

[patrickgpe]

Madison is a college town, the basketball and football teams are well supported, i think it would hard to add a minor league baseball team to the mix. While its different times of the year, there is only so much disposable income in a town that can be used towards sports.

 

Des Moines' only D1 school is drake, so the cities disposable income can go for baseball.

 

Many people from Madison drive down to Milwaukee to go to brewers games.

 

When teams are added to a city, it has an affect on the arts and all other teams in that city. That being said, a AAA team in Madison would be awesome, but I understand why it makes little sense for the brewers or the city of Madison to do it.

[And That]

Also, there are several AAA teams that are just as close if not closer to their parent teams (Seattle/Tacoma, Atlanta/Gwinnett, Boston/Pawtuckett, just to name some).

Metropolitan populations:

Seattle: 3,733,580

Atlanta: 5,710,795

Boston: 4,774,321

 

Milwaukee: 1,575,747

 

There just aren't as many people to draw from for the Brewers.

[jerichoholicninja]

How about Green Bay? Aren't they about to build a new stadium for the Bullfrogs?

 

It's two hours from Milwaukee so I doubt they'd be taking much from Milwaukee in terms of fans and it could generate Brewer interest in northern Wisconsin where I'm assuming people never go to Brewer games because of the 3+ hour drive.

[FVBrewerFan]

Green Bay would be worse. Now you would have three teams competing for attendance. Brewers, TRats, and the GB AAA team. And the stadium they have in mind for the Bullfrogs would be smaller than the TRats stadium, definitely not a AAA type of stadium.

[MrTPlush]

generate Brewer interest in northern Wisconsin where I'm assuming people never go to Brewer games because of the 3+ hour drive.

 

The Brewers draw a ton from outside the Milwaukee area. Having a roof gets people to invest in the long trips. I lived towards Eau Claire and I knew a lot of people that made multiple trips to Milwaukee for games.