The Batavia MuckDogs (short season A; NY-Penn League) and the St. Louis Cardinals announced a two-year extension to their current player-development contract, despite the uncertainty swirling around the franchise.
“The Genesee County Baseball Club is pleased to announce that we will be extending our working relationship with the St. Louis Cardinals for two more years. This is a great day for the Batavia community as we continue our partnership with one of the greatest teams in the history of Major League Baseball. Over the past several years the Cardinals have provided some of the best teams in the history of Batavia baseball, including the unforgettable 2008 New York-Penn League Championship season. They’ve been a first class organization to work with and we’re fortunate to have them as our affiliate in Batavia,” said Brian Paris, president of GCBC.
“We’re very pleased to see the working relationship between Batavia and the St. Louis Cardinals extended. The Cardinals have done everything a Minor League franchise could hope for in an affiliation. They also understand how important small town Minor League Baseball is to the Batavia Community and they deserve a lot of credit for providing the baseball fans of Batavia with extremely talented young players,” said Naomi Silver, President and CEO of Red Wings Management, LLC, the company which has managed the Muckdogs since 2008.
“We have had a good experience working with the ownership and management team in Batavia and I want to thank Naomi Silver, Gary Larder and Brian Paris for their support,” stated John Abbamondi, Assistant General Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. “We reached the playoffs this season and won the Championship in 2008 and we look forward to building on this recent success.”
Despite the affiliation, there’s no doubt the future of the team is in doubt. Red Wings Management has reportedly suffered through over $300,000 in losses in the three years it has managed the team, and there were rumors they were willing to walk away. Genesee County Baseball Club can’t afford to run the team any longer, and we know of several suitors for the team in recent years.
Still, for the Cards, there weren’t many options: Auburn, Jamestown and Vermont were the other NY-Penn League teams out there, and any move would be a lateral one.
Here’s a look at the current affiliate status.
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