Modesto Nuts may play at John Thurman Field through 2025 season, city says
It looks like the Modesto Nuts are staying at John Thurman Field for at least one more season.
The City Council on Tuesday is expected to authorize City Manager Joe Lopez to finish negotiations with the Nuts to keep the minor league baseball team at city-owned John Thurman through Sept. 30, 2025. A short-term deal would give the city and Nuts time to reach a long-term deal.
This development comes after Modesto and the Seattle Mariners — which own the Nuts — announced July 10 this would be the final season for team here because the two sides could not come to terms on a long-term lease extension for John Thurman.
The deal-breaker was who would pay for Major League Baseball-mandated improvements to John Thurman Field, which opened in 1955. The cost was $32 million, according to a city memo, which cited as its source a study commissioned by the Mariners.
According to a city report, Lopez’s negotiations with the Nuts are subject to these terms:
▪ The Nuts will pay $600,000 in annual rent and be responsible for all repairs and maintenance. The team can withhold $75,000 in rent payments for capital improvements at the stadium. (The city stated in a July memo that it had spent $3 million from 2018 to 2024 to operate John Thurman.)
▪ The Nuts agree to “fund all improvements to the property which are required by Major League Baseball ... or any other entity with authority or control over the condition and specifications of stadiums used for minor league baseball,” according to a City Council report.
▪ The Nuts and their parent organization will not negotiate with any other city or entity in Stanislaus County regarding the development or redevelopment of a baseball or multipurpose sports facility through December 2026.
▪ There is an April 1, 2025, deadline for Modesto and the Nuts to reach a long-term lease agreement for John Thurman. If an agreement cannot be reached by the deadline then the Nuts will leave John Thurman by Oct. 1, 2025.
MLB took over the minor leagues in February 2021 and has taken such long-overdue steps to improve the players’ experience as increasing pay, reducing travel and mandating facility improvements.
The improvements focus on the players and include larger clubhouses for home and visiting teams, better training facilities, brighter stadium lighting, separate facilities for women and separate food preparation and dining areas.
The publication Baseball America reported in July regarding Modesto and the Mariners announcing the Nuts were leaving that there were concerns “that some minor league teams, especially on the West Coast, are unlikely to get the necessary upgrades to meet those standards.”
The deadline for the improvements is 2025, but it’s not clear how much wiggle room MLB will grant regarding the improvements. Nuts General Manager Veronica Hernandez did not respond to an email Saturday seeking comment
The Nuts play at minor league’s lowest level and are a member of the California League. There has been minor league baseball in Modesto since 1946.
The Bee filed a California Public Records Act request with the city in July for a copy of the study that outlined the $32 million in John Thurman Field improvements.
The city denied the newspaper’s request in late July, citing such reasons as the study contained proprietary and confidential information and releasing it would disadvantage the city in potential future negotiations regarding John Thurman.
This story was originally published August 24, 2024 at 2:14 PM.
