Affiliate Shuffle? Baseball America Summarizes Status of PDC's

[Mass Haas]

An interesting summary from BA shows that the Huntsville, West Virginia, and Helena agreements all expire after the 2008 season, as we knew.

Check out how many of the Florida State League teams are owned by their parent club. Fortunately for the Brewers, the Nationals like having their high-A team in nearby Potomac, freeing up Brevard County for the Crew. Space Coast Stadium has undergone even more upgrades for Nationals' spring training this winter, and the Manatees get to benefit from a first-rate facility, no doubt.

Hopefully West Virginia isn't tempted to shop around again, and with Nashville locked in until 2010, it makes too much sense not to extend Huntsville by another two years as well, even if the facilities still leave something to be desired.

[brewjihad]

I live up in Appleton, and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers player development contract with the Mariners also expires after this season. I personally would be thrilled if the Brewers signed with the T-Rats. I would actually be interested in how the players did if they were future Brewers instead of future Mariners. I've heard rumors about this in the past, but nothing can be commented on by any club until after this season.

 

Fox Cities Stadium is a beautiful, relatively new stadium, so there are no issues there. I think it would make a lot of sense for the Brewers to sign the Timber Rattlers as their low-A team. It would create more of a following for the Brewers up here, it would give the Timber Rattlers a boost, and the big club would have a nearby location to send rehabbing players to, which would also be a draw for the T-Rats.

 

Obviously this is mostly speculation on my part, but it would be neat if it did happen.

[dadofandrew]

That would be great for many of us, but the Crew seems happy to have their team out of the Upper Midwest, as they usually get in abut 10 more games and they don't have to avoid some pitchers in the cold weather.

 

I bet FSN might even broadcast a few games if they did play in Apple-ton.

[pogokat]

i want them in the southern half of the sally league http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[twobrewers]

That would be great for many of us, but the Crew seems happy to have their team out of the Upper Midwest, as they usually get in abut 10 more games and they don't have to avoid some pitchers in the cold weather.

I've often wonder (Especially in down years), do you think the Brewers prefer not to have a minor league team in Wisconsin so that they don't have to compete with them?

 

I mean, during a 100 loss season - wouldn't a quality minor league team with a few potential stars take attention away from the major league club?

 

Plus, by putting affiliated throughout the country - you are developing your fan base. I assume Brevard County has a lot of Brewer's fans.

[Brily0204]

i want them in the southern half of the sally league http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Agreed. Is there some petition I can sign?

[dadofandrew]

The amount of people that go to a Apple-ton game in a season is about a weekend at MP. There may be some slight overlap (I would assume the Beloit Brewers may have stolen 10-50 fans some nights), but for the most part, things like the Northwoods League and such will experience higher attendance if the Crew is going good and vice versa.

 

I think it would be good for many reasons, but in the grand scheme of things, extremely minor.

[brewjihad]

I agree with that. Appleton is almost 2 hours from Milwaukee, so I don't think a lot of fans would be "stolen"...

 

However, the cold weather issue could definitely be a factor.

[madbad2000]

Well then let me vote for them to get a team in California! JK, except not really.

 

The low-A moved to West Virginia for a few reasons. The biggest of which was probably facilities. Beloit's facilities aren't up to par with most minor league teams. For instance, I thought I heard the complaint that the Snappers had only one training table. Also, Pohlman field is often looked down upon. The field isn't always in the greatest shape, the stands are small, smaller crowds, etc. I personally enjoy watching games in Beloit because there is a feeling that you're closer to the game and players. Plus I hate large crowds when truly watching a game in person. The Power were getting a brand new stadium/facilities, draw pretty well and an added bonus play in the Sally League with a lot of locations that are much warmer in the spring than the Midwest.

 

While Appleton has a nice stadium and is a nice place to watch a game, I'm not sure what the Brewers truly value in terms of their minor league facilities. If weather is up there, not likely they are coming back to Midwest League. Other than that, it's a possibility and if you live in that area...keep hope alive. Since I'm out West in Cali, doesn't affect me either way personally.