Does Anybody Want the Rays?

(photo credit: CNN)

Happy sort-of Opening Day!  The 2025 MLB season officially kicked off in Tokyo today, and natural order has been restored as the Cubs are already in last place.  This season is particularly exciting because two new ballparks are supposedly breaking ground for the Athletics and Rays.  The A's are always clouded in mystery, but all signs and government approvals are so far pointing to them having shovels in the ground by around the time Erik and I are in Sacramento in June.  However, the Rays are a completely different story.  Remember in August of last year when I reported that their new stadium deal was officially approved?  And remember when I boldly predicted they were "99% likely" to be playing in a new ballpark by January 2029?  Well, a lot has changed in the last 6 months.  Two devastating hurricanes in October, a changing of the guard in the November elections, and a few delayed votes later, coupled with that word "inflation" we'd all like to stop thinking about, and all of a sudden, the Rays find themselves playing out of a minor league stadium for the 2025 season, and potentially homeless soon after that.  The team made known that they have no intention of honoring the terms of the public financing commitment that was formerly approved in December but has stated they are open to continued negotiations.  In other words - they want even more money.

Tropicana Field will supposedly be repaired in time for the 2026 season after being ravaged by Hurricane Milton (see photo above), but even that is not a guarantee and has not been formally approved yet.  It is a situation nobody really wants, but St. Petersburg is contractually obligated to do so, and the Rays don't really have a choice as they need somewhere to play and continuing in minor league parks for additional seasons would be untenable and unprofitable.  With the Rays now backing out of the new stadium deal, both sides are playing hardball and doing a lot of finger pointing, and St. Petersburg will certainly be in no rush to complete repairs if at all, as all it would do is continue extending the Rays lease the longer they wait (currently extended by one year already through the 2028 season).  It's become clear through various reports that there is a lot of lingering bitterness and passive-aggressiveness between the parties to this deal, and that they never seemed to want to work with each other to begin with.  Any path forward with this current ownership group now seems near impossible.  Nobody seems to want the Rays to even exist at all - not even God himself by the looks of the hurricane aftermath photos - and that has been the story of this franchise nearly since its inception.  It is looking more and more by the day that principal owner Stuart Sternberg will have to dupe someone into buying this team, cut his losses, and leave town (and by losses I mean a meager $1.3B and 20 years of profit sharing).  Regardless of how he may feel privately, Manfred is going to continue to say publicly that Tampa is a great baseball market and that the team should stay there regardless of ownership, but there is soon going to come a time where the other 29 owners will have to intervene and put their proverbial foot down.  Perhaps a new ownership group would want to continue to try to make baseball work in the region and deal with the uncertainty of the Trop, but I don't see why any investor who values their time and money would want to do so, particularly when there are plenty of other eager cities and states out there ready to play ball.

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now to never trust these new ballpark situations with any degree of certainty, but the pretty renderings distracted me!  I promise that I will not be using the phrase "done deal" to describe the Rays (or A's) ever again, and I will try not to report any more on these situations until there are literal shovels in the ground, or one of the teams has been sold.  But don't trust me on that.

Tour 2025

Tomorrow kicks off the Caribbean Series in Mexicali!  This annual event always comes with a high amount of anticipation for me, as it usually marks the first live ballgames I will watch of the year and my own sort of unofficial start to the baseball calendar.  Serie del Caribe is certainly on our our list for a future trip, but for now, it seems as ceremonial a time as any to announce our Tour 2025 ball trip to Sacramento and Northern California.  Single game ticket presale for the A's starts today and we're pumped!

There are some years where we may sift through the bucket list to decide where to go, or we may revisit an old favorite as we did with last year's trip to Seattle.  But there are also years like 2025 when an MLB team moves or builds a new stadium and it makes our decision easy.  When the Athletics announced last year that 2024 would be their final season in Oakland, and that they would move to West Sacramento while awaiting their supposed new Vegas stadium, we knew we had no choice but to fly out to Sactown to see regular season major league baseball at a minor league ballpark.  The most important trips for Erik and I are the ones that get us back into that elite 30-ballpark club, no matter where they may take us or how temporary the situation may be (this may also mean we need to get out to frickin' Florida again if the Trop does not get fixed, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it).  The crux of our trip will be centered around a game or two at Sutter Health Park.  This park will be shared with the AAA Sacramento River Cats, so I'm actually kind of excited to be in such an intimate setting for a real major league game in what should be a launching pad for the Swingin' A's.  We also can't fly all that way without revisiting revered Oracle Park in San Francisco.  Our last game there together was in 2007 the day before Barry Bonds broke the career homerun record so that will be hard to top, but it'll be fun to get back there and see what's changed in the last 18 years.  There are also many California League, Pecos League, and Pioneer League teams dotting this area that we will undoubtedly fit into this trip, which will hopefully include a stop to see the Nuts in their 80th and final season in Modesto.

As for the rest of the 2025 ball trip calendar, the 5th year of Tour Molly should be taking us out to Fargo, North Dakota, to see the RedHawks and to cross another state off my and our list.  My son Elliot is still not quite at the age where I think he could be attentive and relatively calm for an entire weekend trip, but maybe I'll try getting him out to some Town Ball games this year as a test run.  Other than heaps of local Minnesota baseball, I've got no other big travel planned for the year.

Megan and I have tickets for our first-ever Minnesota Twins home opener, so check back in early April for a report from under the patio heaters at Target Field!

Another Similar Offseason for the Brewers

If you asked two separate Brewers fans to reflect on the 2024 season, and one person referred to it as a surprising success, and the other referred to it as a disappointing failure, they'd both be correct.  The Brewers were written off and cast aside by just about every publication and pundit in the baseball industry before Spring Training even began, and even I had my doubts.  I thought that they'd be better than projected, but certainly not a playoff team on paper.  They had a new manager, they had a lineup comprised mostly of 1st and 2nd year players and one notable veteran reclamation project in Rhys Hoskins, and it was difficult to fathom how a rotation that lost 6 starters to either injury or trade (Burnes, Woodruff, Lauer, Miley, Houser, Teheran) would even be able to cobble together enough innings to get through a season, let alone be productive.  So the fact that this team managed to win 93 games and basically coast through the division for almost the entire season was nothing short of miraculous.  Brice Turang shunned off a sophomore slump and took a major step forward to become a potent leadoff man who was 3rd in baseball in steals and led all defenders at any position in defensive runs saved, which garnered him his first Gold Glove yesterday.  Outfielders Sal Frelick (another Gold Glove winner), Blake Perkins (Gold Glove finalist), and Garrett Mitchell seemingly took turns making highlight reel plays in the outfield on a nightly basis and helped make run prevention a key component to the team's success.  Newcomer Joey Ortiz, who was the major piece of the Corbin Burnes trade with Baltimore, was a big part of that defense as well, and should slide into shortstop nicely next year when Willy Adames is almost certainly gone.  Two of the most encouraging signs for 2025 and beyond were that William Contreras continues to be the best catcher in the game, and Christian Yelich returned to his near-MVP form before a back injury ended his season.  Put all of those things together, and you can't help but say that a 6th playoff appearance in 7 years was an unmitigated success.  It's approaching the point where it's expected for the Brewers to make the playoffs and the word "dynasty" would not be a stretch, and I never thought I would be saying that in my lifetime.  

However, with continued success comes greater expectations, and another first-round exit in the playoffs also makes this season extremely disappointing and a failure to take that next step.  Yes, the playoffs are largely a crapshoot, especially given the 12-team format now.  Any given team can win on any given day and even the best teams only win 55-60% of the time, which is what makes baseball so great.  The Yankees certainly would not have won as many championships as they have if they had to play 4 rounds of playoffs in the 1930s.  But you take enough shots and you expect to eventually make one, and that just hasn't happened for the Brewers for whatever reason.  They certainly had the offense and bullpen and defense this year to put the pieces together, and it just didn't happen.  One of the greatest closers in Brewers history gave up a homer on his signature pitch, to a guy who had not homered off of a changeup nor to the opposite field all year, and sometimes that just happens in baseball.  It was gut-wrenching, and it took me a good week to get over the loss, and each year gets harder to take when we don't advance.  But I also can't help but be proud of this team, and I try not to take it for granted that I am a fan of a team that has been pretty much continuously competitive over the last 8 or 9 years.

I mentioned Willy Adames earlier, and he is just one of the many looming hot stove questions this team always seems to have.  Hoskins picked up his option so that clears up first base a little, but besides Adames' inevitable departure, the biggest story will be whether or not Devin Williams is traded.  The team recently declined his $10.5M option, but he is still arbitration eligible for one more season, and he would likely be coveted by a lot of teams.  What we would get in return for a 30-year old reliever who recently had back surgery remains to be seen.  The Brewers unfortunately for whatever reason seem to have a little bit of a sleazy track record lately for how they're treating their outgoing players - Cain, Burnes, Hader, Colin Rea, and now Williams as recent examples - and are very focused on the bottom line.  Which a small market team should always be, but not at the expense of a healthy clubhouse or reputation.  Bullpen pieces are a dime a dozen these days, but how hard we go after another infield bat and some starting pitching will be interesting.

Welp, another season in the books, and I'm happy to report that I crossed the "30 games attended" threshold for the first time since I became a parent.  Time to catch up on my TV shows for a few months and brush up on my Spanish on the Dominican League broadcasts.  Other than that, stay tuned for Tour 2025 news, and only 108 short days until Spring Training!

FINAL 2024 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 7
Peter - 32

2024 MLB Postseason

The 2024 season featured 6 division winners that were all largely decided by August 1st, but the final two wild card spots in each league were thrilling to the very last pitch of the season - a season that was extended by an extra day with an epic Mets-Braves winner-take-all doubleheader.  All is right with the world as the huge-payroll Yankees, Padres, and Mets are all returning to the postseason this year.  Once again, the Brewers won the NL Central despite being written off by every baseball analyst in the country - just as they were last year - and this will be their 6th postseason in the last 7 years, including 4 division titles in that stretch.  The Crew has the 6th most wins in all of baseball since the start of their run of success in 2017, so it really makes me wonder when they'll start to be taken seriously.  Even I wrote them off in Spring Training this year, and I hope I can eat my own words as I watch them hoist the World Series trophy in a month.  With repeated success comes expectations, and the years of just being happy with making the postseason are long gone.  There's no reason to think this team can't make a deep run in a softer playoff field than I can remember in recent years.  Almost every team in the playoffs, especially in the American League, has either limped in, or has a ton of injuries, or some discernable flaw, and no team won 100 games.  The two possible exceptions to the "soft" playoff field are the Brewers' first round opponent of the Mets, and the Detroit Tigers.  Both teams came out of nowhere to snag the final wild card spots in their respective leagues, and the Tigers were even sellers at the trade deadline.  They overcame a 10-game deficit in the final 6 weeks of the season, becoming the first team in MLB history to overcome a double-digit deficit that late in the season.  This historic stretch can be greatly attributed to the embarrassing collapse of the Twins, who went an abysmal 13-27 in their final 40 games.  A similar collapse also occurred in the AL West, where the Astros started the year just 7-19 and were below .500 at the All-Star Break before erasing a 10-game deficit to surpass the Mariners in route to yet another division title.  You can't put a bow on the 2024 regular season without mentioning two things - Shohei Ohtani and the Chicago White Sox.  Shohei created his own category of player by achieving the first 50/50 season of all time, and might very well become the first full-time DH to win an MVP award.  Shockingly, in his 7th MLB season, this will be his first time in the playoffs.  And the lowly White Sox went 41-121, thus surpassing the 1962 Mets with the most losses in a season in the Modern Era.  I'm not sure why everyone in baseball is so shocked that the AL Central - widely considered the worst division in baseball - fielded 3 playoff teams when each of them got to play the White Sox 13 times.

I picked the Braves and Orioles to go to the World Series before the season, and while technically that's still a possibility, I'm not feeling super confident about either of those teams right now.  It took the O's sweeping the Twins over the weekend just for me to push on my preseason bet over 91 wins.  Here's hoping the Crew plays deep into October so that I can make it back for a playoff game.  There are a lot of really intriguing matchups in the Wild Card round, and I can't wait for it to start in just 3 short hours.

PLAYOFFS START 10/1/24
NL Wild Card Round - #3 Brewers host #6 Mets, #4 Padres host #5 Braves
NLDS - #1 Dodgers v. 4/5 Winner, #2 Phillies v. 3/6 Winner

AL Wild Card Round - #3 Astros host #6 Tigers, #4 Orioles host #5 Royals
ALDS - #1 Yankees v. 4/5 Winner, #2 Guardians v. 3/6 Winner

World Series Prediction: Phillies defeat Astros in 7
Rooting for: Brewers v. Orioles

Preseason Predictions:
#1 Braves
#2 Dodgers
#3 Cubs
#4 Phillies
#5 Padres
#6 Reds

#1 Orioles
#2 Astros
#3 Twins
#4 Yankees
#5 Blue Jays
#6 Rangers

Preseason World Series Prediction: Braves defeat Orioles

FINAL STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 10/1/24:
Brewers 93-69, +10.0, 1st NL Central; NL WC v. Mets
Twins 82-80, -10.5, 4th AL Central; eliminated
Orioles 91-71, -3.0, 2nd AL East; AL WC v. Royals

2024 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 7
Peter - 32

Ranking the City Connect Uniforms

The Minnesota Twins became the final team to debut a City Connect uniform in June of this year (final, but not the 30th - more on that later).  I thought they were one of the better done ones, and I've had a lot of strong opinions and discussions with others on various teams' versions of this cool concept.  And so with that, I get to write something I've been excited about for a couple years now: my ranking of all the City Connect uniforms.  I quickly found that once I got past the top few obvious best ones, it got really difficult and nit-picky, so you'll see that I've broken my rankings down into tiers to make this task a little easier.

Tier 1: Best of the Best
1.  Los Angeles Angels
One of the few things this organization has done right recently.  These are honestly so good that they should be their regular uniforms, and in reality they are just a sprucing up of their current duds.  They're a bit more subtle than some (looking at you, Padres), but I am a sucker for a great font, cool patches, a differently colored front panel cap, and an off-white home uniform, and the Angels feature all four of these.

2.  Miami Marlins
These pay homage to the former AAA Havana Sugar Kings uniforms, and are perfectly Miami without being too loud or busy (again, looking at you, Padres).

3.  Colorado Rockies
If you're a fan of the green Colorado license plate, then these are for you.  Of course there are mountains, but also some cool small details like the the ski-inspired sleeve patch.  It's a crying shame that these are being replaced next season.  The Rockies should be spending their efforts on revamping the stalest uniforms in baseball that have been basically unchanged since their inception over 30 years ago, rather than get rid of one of the best City Connects in the game.

Tier 2: Nearly Perfect

4.  Washington Nationals
Sadly, these "Back in Bloom" jerseys are also stupidly being replaced at the end of the year.  The contrast of the gray patterned uniform with the pink cherry blossoms is stunning, and I love the DC flag patch - one of the best US flags.  I think the only thing missing for me is a reference to the Capitol or a famous DC monument/building somewhere.

5.  Seattle Mariners
The original 1977 look is represented in these City Connects, which is unmistakably the best era of Mariners uniforms.  Love the trident and the '70s style, I just can't get past the black pants.

6.  Houston Astros
These are on the more subtle side in the City Connect spectrum, but the "Space City" reference was an obvious choice.  Again, I love a good font, and I've always been nuts about that retro space font.  The orbiting planet on the cap is a nice touch.  But just too monotone for me.  If they required the high pants with the orange socks for every player they'd be fantastic, but the navy top with long navy pants is a bit too much.  UPDATE: It was announced on 9/22 that the Astros will also be replacing their City Connects next year.  What's with all the best ones going away?

7.  Los Angeles Dodgers
When I started compiling this list last year, the Dodgers had the worst City Connects by a mile, so I'm glad they got a new set this year.  These have a nice font as well, but the layout is what stands out on these.  I love the positioning of the number high on the front breast, and the name below the number on the back that ever-so-slightly cuts off the bottom of the numbers.  The theme of these is Hollywood, and the faint star pattern is a really nice touch.

8.  Kansas City Royals
Futuristic, faux-retro "KC" and "R" logos adorn the tops, which tie to the architecture and era of Kauffman Stadium, and the linework I'm guessing is a subtle reference to the fountains.  The striped banding on the sleeves is phenomenal.  A lot of teams teams use a baby blue throwback color, but the Royals have always been one of the best at it.

9.  Minnesota Twins
Maybe I'm being a bit of a homer here, but I like these.  I'm sure it was no easy task to debut an entirely new set of every-day uniforms and a City Connect in consecutive seasons.  The theme of lakes and the North Star is low hanging fruit, but it really pops with the bold color palette.  I appreciate the City Connects that successfully stray from their normal team colors.

10.  Texas Rangers
They have an Old West font and a boot spur on them.  All they're missing is a huge belt buckle, and that's actually my only legitimate gripe with them.  These could have been really gaudy and covered in Texas flags and guns and longhorns, so I appreciate that they're a little more understated.

Tier 3: Good Elements

11.  Milwaukee Brewers

I really struggled with where to rank the Brewers, obviously.  Ultimately I love the colors, I love that they say "Brew Crew," and the grill patch is the best individual element on any of the City Connects.  I just can't get past the caps.  They're way too busy and borderline ugly, and when you already have the best everyday logo in baseball, anything less than than perfection on the cap is a failure.

12.  Toronto Blue Jays
My only real problem with these is they're way too dark.  The dark-on-dark uniforms with dark font don't make any sense to me and are impossible to read.  If these were done in say, Canada Red, I think they'd be in my top 5.  The cap reference to the logo they had for like one season in the early 2000s is a nice touch.

13.  Detroit Tigers
I hated these ones at first, but that tire tread pattern grew on me, and I like the colors and the highway sign number patch.  Much like the Brewers ones, I can't get past the caps.  They just say "DETROIT" in all caps, it's like they forgot to do a cap and made one themselves on VistaPrint.  Even the promotional photos with Eminem depict him donning a regular Olde English 'D' cap with the top.

14.  Philadelphia Phillies
Historic teams with timeless iconic uniforms like the Phillies are really tough to pull off a good alternate for, and most people are probably going to hate them no matter what.  They've got a pretty good team, so I'm sure Phillies fans appreciate having something they can boo at again.  The font is awful, but I like the color scheme and the Liberty Bell cap was an obvious choice.

15.  Cleveland Guardians
These seem to be one of the more polarizing sets of City Connects out there.  I've seen these ranked in the top 5 and the bottom 5 and everywhere in between depending on which publication you read, so that might be part of the reason I have them directly in the middle of my list.  At the end of the day, they just look too much like their current jerseys.  I love the chunky Art Deco font and going all-in on the "Guardians of Traffic" motif, but a slightly different color scheme or a different cap logo would have gone a long way.

16.  Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox were first out of the gate in early 2021, and appropriately they're racing themed - The Boston Marathon, to be exact.  These have a strong concept but could be executed better, if you look at these in grayscale they still feel too much like their regular uniforms.

Tier 4: Missed the Mark

17.  San Diego Padres
This is my "A for effort, D for execution" tier of uniforms.  The Padres wanting their uniforms to reflect the culture and artwork and playfulness of the region, I totally get that and respect that.  I just personally find them hideous and loud and hard to look at.

18.  Chicago White Sox
"Southside" on the front was absolutely the right call.  But it's all downhill from there.  The White Sox are really leaning into the crime of the area with the gangster font.  And can we try something besides black pinstriped?  Maybe the 1980s look complete with shorts?

19.  Tampa Bay Rays
Same comment as the dark-on-dark Toronto jerseys, but worse.  The cap logo is great and should be more prominent.  I was hoping for some iteration of their Joe Maddon-era "faux-backs" for this one.

20.  Chicago Cubs
Similar issues to their south side counterparts.  Embracing the neighborhood makes sense, but the dark-on-dark is tired, and they feel too much like their regular uniforms.

21.  New York Mets
They have a subway font, a bridge on the cap, they say NYC on the chest...I get what they're trying to do.  The dark gray is just a bad choice and makes these unpalatable.  Being a Mets fan is depressing enough, let's get some more of that pink in there.  There are some thoughtful details in this uniform that get almost entirely lost in the gray.

Tier 5:  Lazy

22.  Pittsburgh Pirates
Modifications made this year moved this one up to the top of this tier.  These originally had black pants with a yellow cap to go with a yellow shirt, but this year they switched to white pants and added a Willie Stargell-era black cap with yellow stars and stripes.  I'm sensing a theme here - the '70s had the best uniforms!  They also replaced a weird yellow helmet with their regular black one.  Featuring the airport abbreviation with no discernable flare keeps this one in the "lazy" category.

23.  Baltimore Orioles
A very boring font with nothing memorable in another black ensemble.  There is a very small pop of color on the collar and the sleeves that is barely visible.  Similar to the Pirates, they did change their black pants to white this year, which was a slight improvement.

24.  Cincinnati Reds
Again with the black-on-black.  Even more unreadable than the Jays and Rays versions.  The cap logo is about all they've got going for them.

25.  San Francisco Giants
Yup, the Bay Area is foggy, I get it.  You know what's hard to do in the fog?  Read.  The crisp white also feels weird on a team whose regular uniforms are cream.

26.  Arizona Diamondbacks
They took their regular uniforms, translated "snakes" to Spanish, and changed the color to sand.  I don't get why anyone likes these.

27.  Atlanta Braves
My complaint with these is not the actual uniform - I actually think they're sharp.  It's that these are nearly identical to their Hank Aaron-era uniforms.  Yes we've established that the '70s have the best style, but not a literal copy.  Nothing is new or creative about these in any way.

Tier 6: Why Even Bother?

28.  St. Louis Cardinals
It seems appropriate that the Cardinals should be in a category all by themselves, since that's how they view themselves.  The caps are of the homemade variety a la Tigers, and they took their regular tops and just changed "Cardinals" to "The Lou" in the same font.  Oh but wait, they're red now!  Wow!  "The Lou" is also just a horrible nickname.  Rely on a century of stubborn tradition and expect everyone to blindly get on board - The Cardinal Way.

Tier 7: They Didn't Bother.

29.  Oakland Athletics
Understandable that they would not create a jersey proclaiming their love of a city they are soon abandoning.  And don't expect them to create one anytime soon given their vagabond status.

30.  New York Yankees
What a surprise, the Yankees didn't want to sully their nearly unchanged look and stoop down to the level of the other 28 teams by actually making something fun.  We're talking about the only team in baseball that has only two primary uniforms - one home, one away, zero alternates.  The Yankees are actually going in the reverse direction and stripping down their existing uniforms to even more bare.  For the 2024 season, they removed the white trim from the numbers, letters, and sleeves of their road uniforms, thus reverting back to their pre-1973, Mickey Mantle-era style with just basic black numerals on a plain gray jersey.  Exciting.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 9/20/24:
Brewers 88-65, +10.0, clinched NL Central; 4 v. Diamondbacks, 3 @ Pirates, 3 v. Mets
Twins 80-73, -8.5, -- WC; 3 @ Red Sox, 3 v. Marlins, 3 v. Orioles
Orioles 85-68, -4.0, +5.0 WC, magic number 4; 3 v. Tigers, 3 @ Yankees, 3 @ Twins

2024 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 7
Peter - 31

MLB Ballpark Roulette

(rendering of proposed Las Vegas Ballpark courtesy of Oakland A's and MLB.com)

As the sun begins to set on another season, many MLB teams remain in the weeds on where their future homes will be or what they will look like.  Below is a list of teams that I've mentioned on this blog in some capacity over the last few years in terms of seeking a new ballpark, and the likelihood I've assigned to each of them either breaking ground on a new home, majorly renovating their current home, or moving somewhere else, before the expiration of Commissioner Manfred's current contract in January 2029.  I feel like this date is significant and not arbitrary for purposes of this list, because Manfred has repeatedly stated that he wants to see major ballpark "situations" resolved before expansion is considered and before he retires, particularly the Rays and A's.

1.  Tampa Bay Rays - 99%

See my post from last month.  Even if the anticipated groundbreaking of January 2025 gets delayed a bit, I still see this ballpark (or some iteration of it) as a near certainty to break ground next year.  And that's weird to say.

2.  Oakland/Sacramento/Las Vegas/"Insert City Here" Athletics - 95%

Let's move to the white elephant in the room - the A's.  If the question was about my confidence in their current ballpark plan, or even their move to Vegas in general, I'd have this under 50%.  But I have them at 95% simply because it is a fact that they have just 9 remaining regular season games scheduled at the Coliseum, so they will need to find a home somewhere.  They're currently slated to play in Sacramento from 2025-27 with an option for 2028, and I'm not entirely ruling out that the team will remain there long term in a new MLB-appropriate park.  I even think crawling back to Oakland with their tail between their legs begging to revive their new stadium talks is a possibility.  The government portion of the financing that was earmarked in June 2023 for the Vegas ballpark was contingent on the approval of a set of four agreements - community benefits, development, lease, and non-relocation, and so far only the first of those has been formally approved.  The Las Vegas Stadium Authority seems confident that the remaining agreements will all be approved by the end of this year (Chairman Steve Hill has even cancelled some additional workshop meetings as a signal of progress), but the biggest question mark that has always been out there still remains - how are the Athletics paying for their share?  Shockingly, there have not been any minority investors lining up for a chance to work with infamously shady owner John Fisher.  The team recently announced they would be co-hosting a Tropicana Hotel Implosion Ceremony on October 8th - a quintessential A's smoke-and-mirrors move that does not guarantee a new ballpark will rise from that crater anytime soon.

3.  Kansas City Royals - 75%

The Royals were dealt a huge blow back in the April election, when over 58% of voters rejected a referendum to continue an existing 3/8th-percent tax to help finance a new ballpark in the Crossroads District of downtown Kansas City.  The tax would have also helped finance major renovations to the NFL Chiefs' stadium which is next door to Kauffman Stadium.  Many saw it as a rush to get this on the ballot with no firm stadium plan, but the argument for the rush was likely to capitalize on the excitement surrounding the Royals recently extending Bobby Witt Jr., new ballpark renderings being released, and the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl, all of which happened around the same time in early February.  As much as I would have loved to see this approved, kudos to KC voters for not shelling out tax dollars to a billionaire.  I do ultimately think the Royals will get a new stadium, as owner John Sherman seems very motivated to do so, but with their lease not expiring until the end of the 2030 season, as well as generational renovations being completed at Kauffman just 15 years ago, there is some time here.  The newest wrinkle is that the Kansas side of the river is making a huge play to steal the Royals in light of the tax rejection.  Back in June, some new renderings were circulated of what a new stadium could look like in the West Bottoms area of Kansas City, Kansas, which is just over the border in an industrial part of town.  And just this week, the governor of Kansas signed into law the authorization of STAR Bonds to help fund a hypothetical new stadium there.  The Royals have made it clear they are not involved with these Kansas plans in any way, but I'm sure they will have open ears now.  Rendering above courtesy of MANICA Architecture.

4.  Arizona Diamondbacks - 50%

The D-Backs are in a similar situation to the Rays, in that their original 30-year lease from when the team began in 1998 is nearing its end.  The situation is also very different, however, as the D-Backs had a sparkling new stadium on Day 1 of their franchise, and they have a great location in downtown Phoenix that would be hard to give up.  The team has been pretty quiet on negotiations since the beginning of the year.  There are the same veiled threats that all owners put out when they're looking for money, but I do think eventually the team decides on the renovation route and stays put.  And after visiting this park in November for the World Series, I can tell you that the park sorely needs the upgrades.  Many of the non-glamorous items like the sound system, lighting, HVAC, and roof apparatus are still original to the stadium - in fact, the Diamondbacks can no longer even safely open the roof while fans are inside.  I see the team signing a lease extension and working out the money situation at some point, but it might be a series of short-term leases after 2027 until it gets resolved.  As we've seen with the NHL Coyotes moving to Utah this season, and with all of the investment already occurring for Spring Training facilities, the Phoenix metro area has little appetite for building any more new stadiums.

5.  Chicago White Sox - 25%

See my post from last month.  The team and the city/state are very far apart on the dollars and nothing is urgent about this right now.  The lawmakers are going to want to get the NFL Bears sorted out first before a team that's about to break the modern era record for most losses in a season, and has to compete with the beloved Cubs for attention no less.

6.  Los Angeles Angels - 10%

The wild card of this situation is how long Arte Moreno will go on owning the team.  I can talk about stadium leases all I want as I have with the other teams (theirs ends after 2029), but if Moreno keeps the team, the Angels are just going to go on playing at decrepit Angel Stadium in perpetuity.  He's too cheap and closed-minded to do anything else, and already has one failed attempt at negotiating with Anaheim for a new ballpark 2 years ago, which ended so poorly that he did publicly consider selling the team for awhile.  But don't worry, he netted a huge settlement sum from that corruption ordeal recently.  However, he is 78 years old, so similar to Jerry Reinsdorf in Chicago, if he dies or sells the team, all bets are off.  Surely any new ownership group would make vacating Angel Stadium a priority, but there's just too much money in LA to ever leave that market.  They have a $3B television deal that doesn't expire until 2031, which is also not coincidentally around the time Mike Trout's huge contract ends, so I think that's the date to look at for some movement on this.  The NHL Ducks across the street will also have a $4B development completed by that time that the Angels can stew about and wonder "what if," so the end of the decade will be very interesting in Anaheim.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 9/5/24:

Brewers 81-59, +9.0, magic number 13; 3 v. Rockies, 3 @ Giants, 3 @ Diamondbacks, 3 v. Phillies

Twins 75-64, -4.5, -- WC, magic number 18; 3 @ Royals, 3 v. Angels, 3 v. Reds, 4 @ Guardians

Orioles 81-60, +0.5, magic number 12; 3 v. Rays, 3 @ Red Sox, 3 @ Tigers, 3 v. Giants

2024 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 7

Peter - 31

Rox Win Great Plains West, Lose in Division Championship

(photo courtesy of Rox website)

The St. Cloud Rox had a phenomenal season in our first as partial season ticket holders, coming on strong late in the season to win the second half of the Great Plains West division, with an overall record of 43-26.  They made it out of the first round of the 8-team playoff field with a victory in the best-of-3 series against nearby rival Willmar, and in doing so, became the first team in Northwoods League history to come back to win a 3-game playoff series after dropping the first game at home.  The magic would end in the second round, losing a winner-take-all game to the LaCrosse Loggers by a score of 8-1 in the Great Plains Championship.  This season was a continuation of a particularly prolific period in franchise history.  Since 2015 (ironically the year of my first St. Cloud game), the Rox have earned playoff births in 8 of the 9 non-COVID seasons, 4 division championships, the best overall league record in 2021, and one Northwoods League Championship back in 2017.  Ben Higdon, a Junior from Southern Miss, led the team in batting average, RBI, walks, and games played, was second in homeruns with 11, and was also named a mid-season All-Star.  Among pitchers with at least 1 start, Dallin Harrison (San Diego) led the team in ERA and wins, Piercen McElyea (Tarleton State) led the team with 52 strikeouts, and Kaden Pfeffer (SCSU) led the team with 52 innings pitched.

The Rox went 5-2 in the seven games of our ticket package and 26-9 overall at home this season, including a remarkable 18-3 home record in the second half.  They were such a fun team to watch, particularly offensively, and I cannot wait to return to Joe Faber Field next year!

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 8/23/24:

Brewers 73-54, +10.0; 3 @ Athletics, 3 v. Giants, 4 @ Reds, 3 v. Cardinals

Twins 71-56, -2.0, -- WC; 3 v. Cardinals, 3 v. Braves, 3 v. Blue Jays, 4 @ Rays

Orioles 74-55, -1.5, +2.0 WC; 4 v. Astros, 3 @ Dodgers, 3 @ Rockies, 3 v. White Sox

2024 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 7

Peter - 29