With a partnership with the Chicago Cubs on a facility dead, Arizona State University is turning to Phoenix Municipal Stadium as the future home of the Sun Devils baseball program. ASU was slated to share a new Mesa spring-training facility with the Cubs, but negotiations over who pays what quickly turned sour, with Sun Devils […]
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Arizona State walks away from Cubs, will explore Phoenix Muni lease
Arizona State University athletic-department officials say they’re done negotiating with the Chicago Cubs to share the team’s new Mesa spring-training complex and will instead look to other potential homes for the Sun Devils baseball team. The following statement was issued late yesterday: “After many months of negotiation, ASU regrets that the effort to have the […]
New protective headgear for pitchers may be tested in MiLB next season
After a few troubling incidents this season where pitchers were injured after taking line drives to the head, MLB will examine protective headgear this offseason and perhaps test some possible solutions next season in Minor League Baseball. The problem received national attention when Doug Fister was struck in the head by the line drive while […]
Selig: No timetable for decision on future of Athletics
While he’s still meeting with a special committee assigned to ponder the future of the Oakland A’s, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig says there’s no timetable on a decision — and may leave the final say to his successor. From AP: “I have a committee very hard at work, ongoing with all that, and they continue […]
Follow the money: How efficiently MLB teams spent money this season
It’s one thing for a Major League Baseball team to spend money in pursuit of wins and, presumably, a robust box office. Success can be elusive, however, as our rankings of how efficiently MLB teams spent money indicate. With the 2012 season completed, it’s time to look at how well MLB did in translating payroll […]
Minor upgrades pitched for Pohlman Field
Beloit is looking at allocating $100,000 toward minor improvements to Pohlman Field, the home of the Beloit Snappers (Low Class A; Midwest League), but the long-term future of baseball in southern Wisconsin remains fuzzy. The proposal: The city will spend $80,000 on new outfield turf and another $20,000 on new concrete and asphalt in the […]
2012 Major League Baseball Attendance
Our last attendance summary of 2012: here we rank the 30 MLB teams by average, with some surprises and some disappointments on the year-to-year front. Here’s the final tally for attendance this season for Major League Baseball teams. We list both the total attendance and the average per-game attendance. Our comparisons are based on the […]
Athletics propose five-year lease extension for Coliseum
With no resolution on a new San Jose ballpark plan, the Oakland Athletics are working on a five-year lease extension to stay at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Interestingly, MLB officials are negotiating the deal on behalf of the Athletics. We’re assuming things are pretty bad in terms of the Coliseum management and the A’s if MLB […]
Angels to Burlington, A’s to Beloit
The final two slots in the Low Class A affiliate dance were filled today, with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim going to the Burlington Bees and the Oakland A’s going to the Beloit Snappers. The Angels come to Burlington after spending the past 20 years in Cedar Rapids. “The Angels have long viewed Scouting […]
What drives Lew Wolff? Insights into his ballpark quest
With a roadmap to a new Oakland Athletics ballpark seemingly a year away, there’s one factor fueling Lew Wolff’s desire to see a new ballpark opened by 2016: his age. Tyler Kepner had a nice article on Wolff’s quest for a new San Jose ballpark, an issue that’s not yielded an easy solution for MLB […]
Up today: more affiliation news
We’re down to just a few teams needing to reach player-development deals for the 2013-2014 seasons, and we expect the logjam to break when the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low Class A; Midwest League) announce their affiliation deal later today. There are three teams without affiliation deals in the Midwest League — the River Bandits, […]
Wolff: No more delays on A’s ballpark decision
With reports that Bud Selig is mulling a Oakland A’s ballpark decision that could end up taking a year or more to settle, owner Lew Wolff says more delays will only end up killing a San Jose ballpark project. Selig is reportedly looking at a plan that would require both the A’s and the San […]
San Jose ballpark land deal under formal review
The transfer of land destined for a new San Jose ballpark is officially being reviewed by California Controller John Chiang to determine whether it was done legally. California municipalities were warned in early 2011 that assets of city and county redevelopment agencies would be transferred to the state in order to balance the budget. For the […]