California League downsizing official – Bakersfield, High Desert out

The California League has confirmed what many sources have long hinted – the Bakersfield Blaze and High Desert Mavericks will cease operations at the end of the season.

The contraction will reduce the league from 10 to eight teams, the first time the league has dropped below 10 since 1985. Major League Baseball announced the changes, part of MLB’s effort to realign its Class-A classification, on Monday.

Mike Gorrasi, executive vice president of HWS Baseball – the Boston-based company that oversees the Modesto Nuts – believes the downsizing of the Cal League will not cause major problems beyond scheduling and travel. He expressed sympathy, however, to the fans, officials and employees at High Desert and Bakersfield.

“Any time a community loses a minor-league team, that’s tough,” Gorrasi said. “There are only 120 full-season minor-league teams in the country. It’s too bad these teams couldn’t find a way to work things out.”

The loss of Bakersfield, a Cal League charter member that featured baseball with minimal interruption since 1941, stings valley baseball fans. The franchise produced future Hall of Famers Don Drysdale, Pedro Martinez,, Mike Piazza and many other stars. Bakersfield won Cal League titles in 1970 and ’89. The Bakersfield market was the league’s second-largest behind San Jose.

Several attempts to build a badly needed new ballpark failed, however, and the team languished at ancient Sam Lynn Ballpark, which faced the setting sun. That often forced starting times to be delayed until the sun went down.

“Baseball has had a long and wonderful history in Bakersfield,” Blaze owner D.G. Elmore said in a statement. “I am sorry to see it come to a close.”

High Desert opened its ballpark in 1991 and immediately became the jewel of the league. Boosted by support from three nearby Air Force bases, the Mavericks became the first Cal League team to draw 200,000 fans in a season (in ’91). Its first manager was Bruce Bochy, and future All-Stars Brad Penny, Vicente Padilla, J.J. Hardy, Kyle Seager, Billy Butler and others played there. The franchise was credited with sparking a renaissance in minor-league baseball in Southern California.

The Mavericks won three Cal League titles in their first seven seasons, but political and economic issues later complicated matters between the team and city of Adelanto, which owned Heritage Field. The team nearly moved to Chico in 2010. The upheaval reached a climax last spring when the city tried to evict the team, but the franchise sued and won an injunction only three days before the start of the season.

“The uncertainty of the future, stemming directly from the city of Adelanto’s effort to lock us out of a ballpark for which we have a binding legal contract, creates too much uncertainty for next season and beyond,” High Desert owner Dave Heller said in a release. “As a result, this unfortunate action had to be taken.”

Cal League president Charlie Blaney said he explored alternatives to the teams’ disbanding, but options were few.

“Bakersfield and High Desert have been very important franchises in the Cal League for many years,” Blaney said in a statement. “While we are disappointed they will no longer be in the Cal League, for the overall good of Minor League Baseball we are working and cooperating with our major- and minor-league partners.”

The Carolina League will gain the teams the Cal League lost. Two new franchises will be established next season in Fayetteville, N.C., and Kinston, N.C. The Texas Rangers reportedly will move their Class-A affiliate from High Desert to Kinston.

The Houston Astros are considering a move of their Class-A team, now in Lancaster of the Cal League, to Fayetteville. Bakersfield has housed the Seattle Mariners’ league entry the last two seasons.

Modesto’s two-year player development contract with the Colorado Rockies, its major-league affiliate for 12 seasons, expires after the Nuts’ final game Sept. 5. It has been reported the Mariners will buy controlling interest in Modesto and retain the Nuts’ front office – Gorrasi, who’s worked for the Modesto franchise for 16 years, and owner Michael Savit, the boss of HWS Baseball.

All these moving parts suggest a Rockies-to-Lancaster and a Mariners-to-Modesto switch is possible.

“The (league contraction) has zero influence on what happens here. Nothing changes,” Gorrasi said. “We’re a Rockies affiliate, and we’ll try to finish the season strong.”

Meanwhile, the endgame for High Desert, a Texas Rangers affiliate, and Bakersfield is filled with irony. Though both occupy the bottom of the Cal League attendance chart, both have been competitive on the field. High Desert already has qualified for the playoffs because of its South Division first-half title. Entering Tuesday, Bakersfield led the North Division second-half race by three games with 13 left.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 7:27 PM with the headline "California League downsizing official – Bakersfield, High Desert out."