Fresno mayor and mayor-elect react to MLB’s plan to demote Grizzlies from Triple-A
This story has been updated to reflect there was no announcement to be made after a closed Fresno City Council meeting Saturday.
Fresno city officials issued a statement about the fate of the Fresno Grizzlies on Friday, two days after Major League Baseball gave the city an ultimatum.
MLB said in a letter Wednesday that the team must accept a demotion to Single-A baseball by Monday or prepare to go without affiliation to one of the 30 major league clubs.
Mayor Lee Brand and Mayor-elect Jerry Dyer issued a response to the letter from the Office of the Commissioner of MLB. They noted an “extreme disappointment” that the letter came during the Thanksgiving break.
“The Grizzlies have been an award-winning franchise both in management and marketing for over 20 years and the investment that the Grizzlies have made in this team and its facilities must not be dismissed,” the statement said. “The city of Fresno is decidedly united with the Grizzlies in this endeavor to maintain our Triple-A legacy of success.”
Representatives for MLB did not return a request for comment on Friday.
In the wake of the Washington Nationals’ decision to end their alliance with the Grizzlies, no other major league teams have expressed interested in the Fresno franchise as a Triple-A affiliate, according to the letter from Daniel R. Halem, deputy commissioner and chief legal officer for MLB.
The Colorado Rockies are willing to add Fresno to its minor league system, but only in the California League that will switch from High Class-A to Low Class-A. The Cal League’s current eight-team alignment has teams in Visalia, Modesto, Stockton, San Jose and four Southern California cities.
Fresno and the Grizzlies have until Monday to accept Single-A affiliation, and to agree to “release any legal claims” against MLB or its clubs, the letter said.
Grizzlies President Derek Franks declined to comment on Friday.
The Fresno City Council called a special meeting for late Saturday afternoon to discuss the city’s options.
“The City Council has not authorized litigation,” Councilmember Miguel Arias said Friday. “We are hopeful that Major League Baseball and (Fresno Sports and Events LLC) will reach an agreement that will keep a baseball team affiliated with MLB in our ballpark.”
After about 90 minutes in close session, the council ended the meeting with nothing to report publicly, Arias said on Saturday.
Since their beginning in 1998, the Fresno Grizzlies have been a Triple-A team, one step below the big leagues. Low Class-A is four steps below the majors. Fresno had a franchise in the Cal League from its inception in 1941 to 1988.
Chukchansi Park, the downtown ballpark that opened in 2002, is considered one of the better venues in Triple-A both from a fan standpoint and teams’ point of view.
In addition, the Grizzlies have spent more than $4 million in upgrading Chukchansi Park since new ownership (Fresno Sports and Events LLC) took over in spring 2018.
But a major shakeup in minor league baseball is underway with at least two successful independent franchises, the Sugar Land Skeeters (owned by the nearby Houston Astros) and St. Paul (Minn.) Saints joining Triple-A With only 30 affiliates at that level, change is certain.
In addition, MLB is cutting the total number of minor league affiliates, saving money.
Chukchansi Park
The $45.8 million park originally called Grizzlies Stadium got the go-ahead in 2000. The city covers the $3.4 million-per-year payments on the 30-year bond debt to build it.
The stadium was seen as a way to drive up revenue through ticket sales and parking payments, as well as a way to increase the interest for development downtown. The revenues have struggled to meet high hopes.
The team’s original ownership, the Fresno Diamond Group, inked a lease with rent payments amounting to $1.5 million a year. But the team struggled for years to meet its obligations, and Fresno Baseball Club LLC bought the club — and assumed the rent agreement. Several years later, the team and the city renegotiated the lease in a controversial move that cut the rent in half, to $750,000 a year.
Fresno pro sports
A demotion to the baseball team could be another hit to Fresno-area fans who can’t seem to get ahead with pro sports.
Despite the Fresno Foxes soccer club’s on-field success during its first two years, the team left the city before the 2020 season. Fresno FC had some difficulty drumming up attendance.
Then there was the Fresno Falcons hockey franchise, which played from 1963 to 2008. That team played at Selland Arena before leaving for the Save Mart Center.
They were coaxed back with a 20-year lease after the city agreed to make $5 million in upgrades to Selland to benefit the team, but the franchise folded months after the first season began in 2008.
There have been short-lived arena football and minor league basketball operations, too.
The Fresno Monsters junior hockey team is in the midst of its 12th season.
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 10:24 AM with the headline "Fresno mayor and mayor-elect react to MLB’s plan to demote Grizzlies from Triple-A."
