Connecticut-based Blue Jays fans might not want to get too excited about seeing the club's AA prospects for the foreseeable future. The New Haven Ravens have been sold to a fellow named Drew Weber, current owner of Boston's A-League affiliate in Lowell, Mass.
Weber has scheduled a news conference for tomorrow, to which the media and the local Ravens booster club have been specifically invited. Rumours are flying that Weber intends to move the team to Manchester, New Hampshire in time for the 2004 season. According to the article, the Ravens would play 2004 in refurbished temporary digs at Gill Stadium while a permanent ballpark is constructed across town as part of a massive riverfront redevelopment.
The rumoured move is very far from a done deal. There's the small matter of the Ravens' lease at their current ballpark, which runs through 2019 and could cost upwards of $10 million to shake. Not only that, but Manchester is within the franchise radius of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and there's been no indication yet that the Red Sox are willing to waive or sell the exclusivity rights of their AAA team. Plus there's lots of approvals still to come: city councils, the Eastern League and major league baseball, to name the most important. And presumably, the Blue Jays will have something to say about this as well.
But if such a move does go through, then clear benefits to the Blue Jays can be discerned. Yale Field in New Haven is preceded by its negative reputation; word is that the condition of the park and field was a leading cause of the Cardinals' departure for greener pastures. Certainly, the fact that the Ravens' Website describes it as "historic Yale Field" doesn't provide much comfort. And consider that last year's Ravens finished dead last in attendance in the Eastern League. A new ballpark in an enthusiastic new city could provide a real advantage to both the critical AA team and to the organization itself, whose minor-league operations had grown stagnant in the years Before Ricciardi. The geographic advantage stays the same: moving players to Syracuse and Toronto remains a lot cheaper from New England than from the South. The only real downside is that if the sale doesn't go through, the Jays will be stuck with the lamest of lame-duck franchises and a seriously disaffected fan base.
Did the Blue Jays organization know about the potential sale of the Ravens when they moved their AA affiliate to New Haven from Knoxville? It seems incredibly unlikely that they didn't -- keeping something like that from a prospective franchisor is a good way to land yourself in court. And if, projecting further, this particular franchise moves from battered digs in a town with little fan interest into a brand new riverfront jewel in a city charged up about baseball, then Paul Godfrey and friends will have pulled off a rare buy-low, sell-high double. Tomorrow's news conference should be very interesting, as should events in the months and years to come.
Weber has scheduled a news conference for tomorrow, to which the media and the local Ravens booster club have been specifically invited. Rumours are flying that Weber intends to move the team to Manchester, New Hampshire in time for the 2004 season. According to the article, the Ravens would play 2004 in refurbished temporary digs at Gill Stadium while a permanent ballpark is constructed across town as part of a massive riverfront redevelopment.
The rumoured move is very far from a done deal. There's the small matter of the Ravens' lease at their current ballpark, which runs through 2019 and could cost upwards of $10 million to shake. Not only that, but Manchester is within the franchise radius of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and there's been no indication yet that the Red Sox are willing to waive or sell the exclusivity rights of their AAA team. Plus there's lots of approvals still to come: city councils, the Eastern League and major league baseball, to name the most important. And presumably, the Blue Jays will have something to say about this as well.
But if such a move does go through, then clear benefits to the Blue Jays can be discerned. Yale Field in New Haven is preceded by its negative reputation; word is that the condition of the park and field was a leading cause of the Cardinals' departure for greener pastures. Certainly, the fact that the Ravens' Website describes it as "historic Yale Field" doesn't provide much comfort. And consider that last year's Ravens finished dead last in attendance in the Eastern League. A new ballpark in an enthusiastic new city could provide a real advantage to both the critical AA team and to the organization itself, whose minor-league operations had grown stagnant in the years Before Ricciardi. The geographic advantage stays the same: moving players to Syracuse and Toronto remains a lot cheaper from New England than from the South. The only real downside is that if the sale doesn't go through, the Jays will be stuck with the lamest of lame-duck franchises and a seriously disaffected fan base.
Did the Blue Jays organization know about the potential sale of the Ravens when they moved their AA affiliate to New Haven from Knoxville? It seems incredibly unlikely that they didn't -- keeping something like that from a prospective franchisor is a good way to land yourself in court. And if, projecting further, this particular franchise moves from battered digs in a town with little fan interest into a brand new riverfront jewel in a city charged up about baseball, then Paul Godfrey and friends will have pulled off a rare buy-low, sell-high double. Tomorrow's news conference should be very interesting, as should events in the months and years to come.
