After failed attempts at a sale to local investors, Drew Weber is selling the Lowell Spinners (short season A: NY-Penn League) to Main Street Baseball, owner of the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low A; Midwest League), High Desert Mavericks (High A; California League), Wilmington Blue Rocks (High A; Carolina League) and the Billings Mustangs (rookie; Pioneer League).
We hinted at this sale to Main Street Baseball a few weeks ago in this article. As we noted, there was more than one current MiLB owner bidding on the team — a process that began last year and was a prime topic at the Winter Meetings, but Main Street Baseball ended up with the team after some spirited bidding. There is an agreement to buy the team in place, but the NY-Penn League, Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball still need to sign off on the deal (or, the case of MLB, do nothing to oppose it.)
Spinners fans can expect more of the same with the purchase: the team has always been a success, and we’re guessing improvements to LeLacheur Park will be on the agenda, but nothing too radical. It’s no secret that Main Street Baseball owners Dave Heller and Bob Herrfeldt are ballpark enthusiasts: in three of the four cities the pair do business there have been serious ballpark upgrades performed or in the works, whether it be the amusement-park rides in Davenport, the proposed expansion of Dehler Park in Billings or the new seating and potential concourse upgrades in Wilmington. These ballpark upgrades differ by market and are in response to local feedback; the proposed upgrades to Dehler Park include a second-level group space that could be utilized the Billings community year-round, for example. Fans do respond to this ballpark love: both Modern Woodmen Park and Frawley Stadium were voted winners in their classification in our 2015 Best of the Ballparks fan voting.
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