Fresno shouldn’t get caught up in game of chicken between Grizzlies and MLB
Major League Baseball’s sweeping plan to reshape the minor leagues has hit a final speed bump on Highway 99.
That bump is none other than your Fresno Grizzlies. Whose owners, alongside the city the team has called home since 1998, aren’t about to let the demotion from Triple-A baseball go down without a fight.
Nor should they.
Problem is, there’s only one way this tussle between a minor-league baseball franchise and MLB, a $10 billion per year enterprise with an antitrust exemption, can end.
It’s spelled out in the ultimatum letter MLB’s chief legal hatchet man, Daniel Halem, sent to city officials last week. Accept reassignment to Class-A — and pronto — or else the Grizzlies will be exiled from affiliated baseball.
Which would be the worst possible outcome for Fresno-area baseball fans, city taxpayers as well as the outgoing and soon-to-be mayors of California’s fifth-largest city.
Does Lee Brand want to be remembered as the mayor who lost professional baseball and soccer?
Does Jerry Dyer want to begin his tenure with a Grizzlies-sized hole in Fresno’s core?
No and no.
Because of this, it seems highly probable the Grizzlies will begin a new chapter as a Class-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. That’s the sensible, logical conclusion to this plot thread. But to get there, a few things must be sorted out. A few million things, to be precise.
Grizzlies ownership mum
In February 2018, after two years on the market, the Grizzlies were purchased by Fresno Sports and Events LLC, an ownership group consisting of managing general partner Michael Baker, his father Ray Baker and Jim Coufos. Derek Franks, a longtime team executive, was named team president and given a small ownership stake.
Triple-A baseball teams typically sell for between $20 million and $30 million. However, the Grizzlies were something of a depressed asset and didn’t fetch that high a price. At the time, I reported about $17 million. Now people tell me it was even less.
Whatever the figure, Triple-A baseball teams are worth considerably more than Class-A teams — at least those that don’t include a stadium. So if I were part of the Grizzlies’ ownership group and facing a steep, sudden depreciation of my property due to factors largely beyond my control, I’d demand reciprocation, too. Or else, see you in court.
I can’t say for certain if Fresno Sports and Events LLC has threatened legal action against MLB. (Judging from MLB’s letter, it appears that way.) In fact, I can’t say anything certain about the team’s position because Michael Baker and Franks aren’t in the talking mood.
Which leaves ample room for guesswork.
For example, I don’t know if the Bakers, who are based in the Denver area, and Coufos, who lives in Orange County, are even interested in owning another Class-A team. The Bakers are minority owners of the Grand Junction Rockies, a Pioneer League team that is reportedly being granted Class-A status, and Coufos had a stake in the Class-A High Desert Mavericks until that team folded.
Team’s fight, not Fresno’s
In prior conversations with Michael Baker, my sense was he and his fellow co-owners had their eyes on Triple-A for some time. That’s the level they aspired to.
Unfortunately, I don’t see any way Fresno remains there. Sure, it would be nice if MLB insisted the San Diego Padres relocate their Triple-A affiliate to Fresno from El Paso, Texas, or the Los Angeles Angels move theirs from Salt Lake City. Either makes more geographic sense. Except MLB isn’t going to force its teams to do anything against their will. Much easier to kneecap the Grizzlies.
No one should expect the Bakers and Coufos to take any of this lying down. But this is ultimately their fight, not Fresno’s. While it’s all well and good for Brand and Dyer to declare the city “decidedly united” with the Grizzlies during the team’s negotiations with MLB, a press release should be as far as it goes.
The last thing Fresno should do is engage in a game of chicken between the Grizzlies and MLB. Being home to a Class-A team is preferable to being home to no affiliated baseball at all. Especially with some $32 million of public debt remaining on Chukchansi Park’s stadium bonds.
The next steps are unclear and will take place behind closed doors. Perhaps MLB and team ownership hammer out a financial agreement that sends the Grizzlies to A ball with no additional fuss. Or maybe Fresno Sports and Events LLC sells the club to another owner with MLB acting as a facilitator. What we don’t want is what’s behind Door No. 3: the two sides digging in their heels followed by a lengthy legal dispute.
Because if that happens, it isn’t Grizzlies ownership that has the most to lose. We do. Everyone living in Fresno, Clovis and surrounding towns who enjoys being at the ballpark on all those warm spring and summer evenings. Losing that would be a much greater shame than dropping a couple levels.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
