Brewers to Carolina for High A Ball!

[muddie]

The stadium itself is definitely small and a bit antiquated.

 

Glad to see another local guy on the board. Maybe we'll cross paths this coming summer. Curious, what gives you the impression the park is small? It has the largest seating capacity in the Carolina League (6500). It was an AA park prior to A ball for years.

 

Frederick-5400

Lynchburg-4281

Myrtle Beach-4800 fixed/6599 SRO

Winston-Salem-5500

Potomac-6000

Carolina-6500

Wilmington-6404

Kinston-4100

Salem-6300

 

The Fayetteville team's park is unknown to me at this point so I have no idea about capacity. Their new park is beyond next year as far as occupancy goes.

[MadThinker88]

....

My kids still have a t-shirt that was a giveaway one night. They were able to fill the shirt with autographs including those of Francisco Lindor and Tyler Naquin. Others may disagree but I have never failed to really enjoy a game there.

 

Nothing quite like having signatures of a few major leaguers and one superstar (Lindor) to increase value of an object..

 

Bet Lindor was smiling his whole time in the Carolina league. Don't think he ever stops smiling..

[Noche]

Back during the Lindor/Baez draft, my dream was to get one of them. I remember Javier Baez had major helium leading up to draft day, some of that due to the assault he led on TGIFridays during his pre-draft workout at Miller Park. Lindor on the other hand was very highly rated all year but in the weeks leading up to draft there were rumors he was going to slip because he wasn't going to hit enough.

 

Well, Baez indeed had too much helium and Lindor didn't slip far enough and I always think about those facts when their names come up. Two Stearnsian young players who will be impacting games for a long time.

[82brewcrew82]

....Nothing quite like having signatures of a few major leaguers and one superstar (Lindor) to increase value of an object..

I doubt it has any value and it wouldn't matter if it did. They boys have gotten autographs from any number of players that have moved through. They just enjoy the interaction with the players and the memory of watching a guy "back when".

[MrTPlush]

Their stadium is interesting to say the least. There is little field level seating instead it is raise up a bit. Not sure who designed that, but it doesn't make much sense.

[muddie]

Agree totally. I am not a fan of the park personally. First, netting is between the seats and the field park wide except for the outfield seats down the two lines, right and left. There are only four rows that are field level seating. All other seats do not have protection from the elements. The netting is a distraction only four rows back at field level, too close. I mostly look forward to visiting GrInger Stadium in Kinston.

[FVBrewerFan]

If I didn't know better I would think the meeting was not going well for the Brewers sake.

 

That was my impression! Based on the body language in that picture, I would have guessed not only did they not get the PD contract done, but were told they were never welcome in NC ever again. Now finish your chicken and please leave Mr. Stearns.

[muddie]

There are 11 former Carolina Mudcat players participating in this years Fall Classic. This includes Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Francisco Lindor.

[muddie]

The Carolina League, in conjunction with the Texas Rangers, announced the name of their new team located in Kinston, NC this coming season. The team will be the 'Down East Wood Ducks.'

The other team moving to NC is still searching for a temporary park to play in for two years before their Fayetteville, NC park will be completed for the 2019 season. Houston wants to be as close to Fayetteville as possible during the two years prior to moving into permanent digs but I have heard nothing definitive.

[trwi7]

The team will be the 'Down East Wood Ducks.'

 

[muddie]

For those so inclined, a really nice article on how the Mudcat logo came to be and how the team ended up in NC...

 

http://news.sportslogos.net/2015/02/07/the-story-behind-the-carolina-mudcats-its-the-fish-stupid/

[WV Brew]

They need to get their 2017 schedule posted. Other teams in the league already have theirs out. Looks like they start at Frederick, which is only 30-40 minutes for me.

[muddie]

I don't know what the hold up is with the Houston affiliate identifying a location for 2017. This is the reason more than half the teams haven't yet posted a schedule. It is Thanksgiving and the Houston affiliate has still not announced. I have called the Carolina League office several times over the past couple of weeks and get nothing but a recording about leaving a message.

[Mass Haas]

I don't know what the hold up is with the Houston affiliate identifying a location for 2017. This is the reason more than half the teams haven't yet posted a schedule. It is Thanksgiving and the Houston affiliate has still not announced. I have called the Carolina League office several times over the past couple of weeks and get nothing but a recording about leaving a message.

 

Via Baseball America, here you go --

 

Astros Carolina League Affiliate To Play At Campbell

[muddie]

Yep, very nice facility. Not a bad road trip at all. Can't wait to get the season in gear.

[adambr2]

Mark A. is in negotiations to purchase the Mudcats.

 

http://www.brewcrewball.com/2017/1/29/14431450/milwaukee-brewers-on-deck-mark-attanasio-buying-carolina-mudcats

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Go for it Mark. As a fan, this is a great use of the money saved on salaries this year. Much rather it spent this way then on a bad expensive FA. Next up, a AAA club, as long as it is not CS.

[pogokat]

Hopefully, he's trying to buy a AAA franchise as well

[Invader3K]

Years ago I had a Carolina Mudcats shirt that my parents got me, as a souvenir from a business trip they took. It's long gone, but this is cool news as far as I'm concerned.

[patrickgpe]

Hopefully, he's trying to buy a AAA franchise as well

well i think that is more difficult, but i hope they try to secure the high A franchise long term, i have a feeling the brewers are stuck in Colorado springs for a while

[adambr2]

Go for it Mark. As a fan, this is a great use of the money saved on salaries this year. Much rather it spent this way then on a bad expensive FA. Next up, a AAA club, as long as it is not CS.

 

Not to get too far off track but to me Mark A. has come a long ways as an owner. When he first got here I think he wanted a good deal of control over the day to day operations of the team, he wanted to win and win quickly, understandably so, he wanted to put the Brewers on the map and get out and woo some known names (Suppan, Gagne) into town.

 

Now that he's been here for over a decade he seems to have a lot better feel for running a franchise. He sees the big picture a lot better and is a lot more hands off on personnel acquisition.

 

I'm glad he recognized that Carolina is a great option for a long term High A home and wants to ensure that it remains a long term home.

[brewmann04]

Hopefully, he's trying to buy a AAA franchise as well

Please hopefully this comes true at some point.

[Greenleaf1]

This is great news. They obviously made a big push after losing Brevard County to make sure we weren't stuck in another terrible development environment for High A, and this only further proves that the organization is taking this situation seriously for the future development of prospects.

 

Colorado is just a really crappy situation we were obviously going to continue to be stuck in for 2 years, but if we can lock up Carolina, we've already got strong positions in Biloxi and Appleton, this will allow the organization to focus on getting out of Colorado Springs for 2019.

 

As for Carolina itself, it'll be nice for our A-ball hitters, especially power hitters like Diaz, to play in an environment that is more balanced. BC seems like it was where power hitting prospects go to die.

 

Also, this might be a stretch, but I wonder if this is an indicator that the organization is concerned about our young pitchers spending too much time in Colorado Springs before being called up to the majors. Wouldn't be surprised to see guys like Ortiz/Woodruff/Lopez/Jungmann stay in AA until they get called up to the bigs. Based on how he looked at the end of last year, Peralta's terrible numbers at CS are another good data point towards proving that CS numbers mean nothing. Hopefully hitters AND pitchers won't develop too many bad habits in that environment.

[trwi7]

Would love to see the Brewers buy Colorado Springs, move them to Madison, upgrade Warner Park even more than it already has been and set up a AAA team there.

[ZBTMP]

Would love to see the Brewers buy Colorado Springs, move them to Madison, upgrade Warner Park even more than it already has been and set up a AAA team there.

 

If the Brewers are already going through the trouble of purchasing a franchise, they might as well buy one in a desirable or even tolerable location, rather than throwing ~30 million into a park in a saturated, small by AAA standards market. Granted Madison has less going on in the summer.