Play hardball with Grizzlies

Posted at 09:07 PM on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009

City Manager Andy Souza and the Fresno City Council are supposed to meet with a Grizzlies owner behind closed doors Thursday to hash out another rent break for the financially ailing baseball club.

My hope is that Souza and our elected leaders finally play hardball with our version of General Motors. We've listened to their poor-poor-pitiful-me chorus long enough. Someone at City Hall needs to muster the courage to call the Grizzlies' bluff instead of handing them a bailout.

An ownership group led by Chris Cummings and Brian Glover bought the franchise in 2005 knowing that the city charged $1.5 million a year for one of the most beautiful stadiums in minor-league baseball.

A year later, the club got the break of a lifetime -- $1 million a year -- to put the name of a Madera County casino on the stadium.

Last year, the Grizzlies negotiated a $1 rent credit for every ticket sold at Chukchansi Park. This lease modification was supposed to save the club about $600,000 annually.

Now the Grizzlies are back at City Hall seeking a $1-million-a-year rent cut -- their leverage being the threat of folding and leaving taxpayers on the hook for the stadium's $3.4 million annual debt service.

Backing up that threat: the same owners shuttered the Fresno Falcons ice hockey team just 16 games into a 20-year contract to play at Selland Arena. The arena had received $6.6 million in taxpayer-funded refurbishments and new equipment to woo the Falcons from the Save Mart Center.

Instead of rewarding the Grizzlies, City Hall should tell them to pay the rent.

The reality is that the San Francisco Giants need a place for their Triple-A minor-leaguers. Another reality is that the Grizzlies don't have anywhere else to go.

And, if they fold, Fresno will get another team. It might be a California League team with players two rungs below Triple-A, but I doubt that the fans would care. In fact, they might like the younger players more. The old Single-A Fresno Giants had more stars of tomorrow than the Grizzlies ever have.

But I'm getting way down the road. Up to now, it has been the Grizzlies applying the pressure. But if City Hall recognizes that it holds the upper hand, some interesting things will happen.

For example, the San Francisco Giants might decide to buy a piece of the Grizzlies -- just as they bought a piece of the Single-A team in San Jose -- because having an affiliate nearby is beneficial. Or the Grizzlies could be sold to somebody who actually knows how to operate a team profitably.

The question is whether City Hall has the courage to risk an empty stadium for a year or two. I encourage them to consider what happened after the Falcons folded.

Selland has a new tenant, the Fresno Monsters, who play an exciting brand of hockey. They're not even minor-leaguers. They are young kids dreaming of college scholarships and someday playing for pay. The Monsters have a short season, which lowers costs and is a nice fit for Fresno's ability to support hockey.

Two hours before city leaders meet in that closed session with the Grizzlies, Mayor Ashley Swearengin will reveal her plan for slashing nearly $28 million from the general fund. These cuts follow a $27 million blood-letting this spring. Job cuts are expected, and taxpayers will see a reduction in services.

What's the higher priority -- public safety or baseball?

Any elected official answering baseball might want to start looking for a new line of work.