Wizards’ Affiliation Possibilities Many
As mentioned in a previous post “Could Fort Wayne Baseball Change In More A’s Than One?,” on Downtown Fort Wayne Baseball, we discussed the possibilities that the Fort Wayne team could potentially see changes in team name, league level and MLB team affiliation.
Since then our community has learned that the Wizards’ are entertaining the idea of changing their name/mascot and have received over 2,500 suggestions in two weeks, in a recent “Name the Team” contest.
Last week’s article from Fort Wayne Business Weekly mentions a potential change in MLB affiliation for the Wizards as well:
The Wizards’ contract to be an affiliate of the San Diego Padres organization has not been renewed beyond this year.
Freier said the Wizards cannot talk with other teams, nor can other teams contact them, about a change until September. But the new stadium should generate some interest from other major-league clubs about changing affiliations.
“Because that is the kind of thing where the decision is made at the end of the year, we haven’t put a lot of thought into it,” Freier said.
He said communication is good with the Padres and the staffs work well together. Geography is the only negative for the Wizards. Freier wants to determine whether fans’ interest would grow if the Wizards were affiliated with a team located in the Midwest.
The Wizards were affiliated with the Minnesota Twins in 1993 when the team moved to Fort Wayne. It became a Padres Class A affiliate in 1999.
Assuming the Wizards and Padres do not renew the contract beyond the current season, which Single A teams would be available? According to a site devoted to MLB/Minor league player development contracts,
“Major league teams sign two or four year agreements called Player Development Contracts (PDCs) with minor league teams. These are renewed in even years, so after the even number year seasons, you will often see many minor league teams switch affiliations.”
The site lists the current minor league affiliations and their expiration dates from rookie league to AAA. We have provided the teams within the Fort Wayne Wizards’ level (Single A) below. Teams highlighted in red have contracts which expire at the end of the current season and could be potential new MLB affiliates for Fort Wayne.
Midwest League (A)
Beloit Snappers - Minnesota Twins (signed through 2010)
Burlington Bees - Kansas City Royals (signed through 2010)
Cedar Rapids Kernels - Los Angeles Angels (signed through 2010)
Clinton Lumber Kings - Texas Rangers (signed through 2008)
Dayton Dragons - Cincinnati Reds (signed through 2012)
Fort Wayne Wizards - San Diego Padres (signed through 2008)
Great Lakes Loons - Los Angeles Dodgers (signed though 2008)
Kane County Cougars - Oakland Athletics (signed through 2008)
Lansing Lugnuts - Toronto Blue Jays (signed through 2010)
Peoria Chiefs - Chicago Cubs (signed through 2012)
Quad Cities River Bandits - St. Louis Cardinals (signed through 2010)
South Bend Silver Hawks - Arizona Diamondbacks (signed through 2008)
West Michigan Whitecaps - Detroit Tigers (signed through 2010)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - Seattle Mariners (signed through 2008)South Atlantic League (A)
Asheville Tourists - Colorado Rockies (signed through 2008)
Augusta GreenJackets - San Francisco Giants (signed through 2008)
Charleston Riverdogs - New York Yankees (signed through 2008)
Columbus Catfish - Tampa Bay Rays (signed through 2008)
Delmarva Shorebirds - Baltimore Orioles (signed through 2010)
Greensboro Grasshoppers - Florida Marlins (signed through 2010)
Greenville Drive - Boston Red Sox (signed through 2012)
Hagerstown Suns - Washington Nationals (signed through 2008)
Hickory Crawdads - Pittsburgh Pirates (signed through 2008)
Kannapolis Intimidators - Chicago White Sox (signed through 2010)
Lake County Captains - Cleveland Indians (signed through 2010)
Lakewood Blue Claws - Philadelphia Phillies (signed through 2008)
Lexington Legends - Houston Astros (signed through 2008)
Rome Braves - Atlanta Braves (owned by Atlanta)
Savannah Sand Gnats - New York Mets (signed through 2008)
West Virginia Power - Milwaukee Brewers (signed through 2008)
Many fans have mentioned that they hope for a Midwestern MLB team affiliation. As you can see from the above list the Midwest options would be: Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. The Cubs are locked in with Peoria through 2012, however according to the list, both the New York Yankees and Mets have player development contracts which expire at the end of the current season.
Update: The Single A Dayton Dragons have signed with the Cincinnatti Reds through 2012.
I tackled this issue about a month ago on my blog. I personally don’t see an affiliation change or a level change - but you never know. South Atlantic League would be tough due to the price of travel and all the MWL teams that are up this year are just as far away. I’d like to see a change though. As good as the Padres have been, we miss out on a lot of talent because of the distance. We see few (if any) rehab stints and several of the hot names shoot through Fort so they can be closer to the parent club brass to keep an eye on them.
Chad,
The Wizards’ contract with the Padres hasn’t been renewed beyond this year, according to a recent GFWBW article
It would seem that the affiliation change has become much more likely since your previous post
I never suggested that it had been renewed. But that does not mean it won’t be.
Agreed. We’ll see what happens.
If we see an affiliation change I don’t think it would be with an expectation that attendance would increase. Unless it’s the Cubs, Sox, Tribe, Tigers, Cards or Yankees, I don’t think there would be an attendance boost attributable to team affiliation. We might see an affiliation change if an organization sees HS as an opportunity to improve their farm team and Hardball believes it’s a good business decision.
By the way, could a major league affiliate change leagues? For example, could the Mets join the MWL if the Padres joined the SAL? Otherwise, I certainly wouldn’t imagine that Fort Wayne could be a part of the SAL.
I just wanted to add that my previous post really addressed the single A affiliations. If we jumped to AA, then I think you would see a more sustainable jump in attendance at games as well as a better chance for HS to succeed as a catalyst project. Changing affiliations wouldn’t really change the quality of the product on the field. However, AA ball is a much more intriguing product - not only for the citizens of Fort Wayne, but for visitors.
From your excellent post on DFWB, I see that the team with the lowest attendance was the Erie team with the Tigers affiliation. You can put me on that bandwagon!
I think there would be a jump in attendance if we were able to go to AA or switch to an affiliation with a closer major league ballclub. I’ve seen enough minor league ball in my life…so I feel pretty confident in saying that AA ball is more interesting and more competitive than A. A ball is pretty much the weeding out level of professional baseball. A lot of very young guys right out of high school/college and a lot of inexperience. As far as switching affiliations, think if we were to switch to Cincy, Detroit, Cubs, Cardinals, White Sox, Indians or Yankees. That’s a lot of good options there, some may not be available but some should be. Fans around here would be much more interested to follow minor league players that may end up with their favorite club. I’m sorry, but neither the San Diego Padres nor the Minnesota Twins really appeal to many people in the Fort Wayne area.
It appears the name will change, the affiliation could change but the league will not. Geography alone prevents the Fort Wayne team from being in another league other than Single A, Midwest League. The AA Eastern league teams are only as close as eastern Ohio and as far as Maine.
MLB affiliation can, and do, change between the Midwest and SAL. For example, Beloit used to be the Brewers affiliate, (now the West Virginia Power of the SAL), but now Beloit is the affiliate for the Twins, which used to belong to Fort Wayne (obviously of the Midwest League) from 1993-1998.
As far as midwestern MLB affiliations, the only ones available at the end of the current season would be Milwaukee or Pittsburgh.
Do you think Fort Wayne attendance would increase if we became an affiliate of a major market MLB team such as the Yankees or Mets?
Brian,
Thanks for the info. It’s nice to know that the MWL is not confined to the major league affiliates already in that league. The Yankees are probably the one team where you would see an appreciable jump in attendance in A baseball, where the affiliate is not geographically close. The Red Sox followed by the Mets are a very distant second and third. As a practical matter, there are teams much closer to NY and Boston in A baseball where the close proximity to the respective teams would make a jump to Ft. Wayne exceedingly unlikely, IMO.
I know its still very unlikely, but I’m still holding out for stealing the Erie team. I would guarantee that the if the Tigers affiliate moved from Erie to FW, then the attendance for the old Erie team would increase dramatically. The numbers you posted on DFWB show that the wizards had nearly 50,000 more attendees as an A-team as compared to Erie’s AA team. If FW moved to AA, then attendance would surely increase even more than that. Thus, I think the Tiger’s team would be much better off in FW than in Erie. I would also throw in the fact that FW is also a larger market which means more opportunities for the team to obtain sponsorship (in a city starving for any marquee sports figures - need I say more than Dane Fife?).
The real question is whether the Tigers AA franchise (and additional cost of travel) would be more profitable than lower attendance/sponsorship of the lesser product (A baseball) with lower costs of travel. If Hardball is truly all-in on HS, then it would certainly be worth the gamble to take a run at Erie.
Imagine the scenario if FW was affiliated with the Indians. Fans would flock to games just to see Matt LaPorta, the guy who was the key to the Sabathia trade.
I’d like to see the Wizards take either the West MI or Eire teams from Detroit. I’m no Tigers fan, but we’d get to see more marquee players come through - but I’m skeptical that they’d be able to move from the MWL and be able to afford to do so. Geographically, it is poor financial sense.
My order of (personal) preference: Cubs, Tigers, Indians, Reds, White Sox. Speaking on MWL Affiliates, The Reds are set with Dayton and either party would be foolish to leave that situation. The Sox seem content to have all their farm clubs isolated in one geographic area. Maybe something could move the Lake County Captains (Indians) from Ohio or the Tigers from West Michigan. Cubs seem set with Peroria, but it wasn’t long ago that the Lansing Lugnuts were a Cubs affiliate, so who knows? If I am a betting man, I’d say the Fort Wayne team will be a MWL A-ball team affiliated with the Padres. I hope I’m wrong though. :)
Sorry to burst the Erie AA bubble but it looks like they have locked in with Detroit through 2010.
http://www.seawolves.com/seawolves-news/2008/01/seawolves-extend-pdc-and-lease-through-2010
Of course one of the considerations when looking at a potential move from A to AA is geography and the travel costs associated with it. However, look how far the Fort Wayne Mad Ants travel…
http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/maps/largemap.php?l_id=73
They play teams in western New York, south Texas, Idaho and Los Angeles.
Fort Wayne will most likely stay single A. However, remember that the ballpark is being built to AA standards for a potential future change.
Contract Schmontract. :)
You’re breaking my heart Brian Spaulding! Looks like we missed out on a great opportunity. Here’s a link to Eastern League attendance this year: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/external/brandedstats/l113.html?t=l_att&lid=113&did=113
Harrisburg is abysmal at just over 2,000/game. However, your DFWB post has the Nationals locked up until 2010. The Connecticut Defenders (SF Giants) are next lowest at 2,456. Erie actually looks to be doing better this year. Well, I suppose I could half-heartedly hope for the Giants, but without the close proximity to the team, the switch is less appealing (and less likely).
Of the(A) teams remaining there isn’t really any reason to switch unless we get the Yankees (which aint gonna happen).
Just from the two “A” leagues that you listed, I would say best options would be Yankees, Mets, Pirates, Brewers, possibly Dodgers. The NY teams would generate more interest from the Fort Wayne residents, and the Pirates and Brewers are both in the NL Central. The Dodgers have a storied history and are a big market.
Kind of thinking outside the box here it would be cool to possibly be an Oakland affiliate too. If anyone has read the book “Moneyball” it is about Oakland GM Billy Beane and how he runs a small market team so well, what he considers when drafting players etc. So it would be fun to see the product of his baseball acumen on the field.
I always wondered why the A’s didn’t have a bigger presence in Indiana given Charlie Finley’s Indiana roots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Finley