BURLINGTON — As the cold, dark winter chills the state, baseball fans across Vermont might be finding themselves daydreaming about feeling the sun on their skin catching a Lake Monsters’ game at Centennial Field.
But a new proposal floated by Major League Baseball could threaten the Lake Monsters’ future in Burlington. The Lake Monsters are one of 42 teams that will lose their affiliation with a major league team if a proposed overhaul of minor league baseball moves forward, the New York Times reported Nov. 16.
These franchises would be invited to join an independent “Dream League” of undrafted and released players. But the Times reported that one minor league official called it a “death sentence” for the teams, as they would likely have to pay for their own players and coaches. The major league affiliate currently picks up that check.
The Lake Monsters, the Single A affiliate of the Oakland A’s, have been in Burlington since 1994 when Lake Champlain Transportation Company owner Ray Pecor bought a Montreal Expos affiliated-franchise that had been based in Jamestown, New York, and moved it to Centennial Field.
Baseball fan and City Council President Kurt Wright, R-Ward 4, said the loss of the Lake Monsters would be a major detriment to the community.
“I think the Lake Monsters are one of the crown jewels of the city of Burlington, the entire region, and the state,” Wright said. “Having baseball in communities like Burlington across the country allows fans to attend professional baseball and enjoy an incredible afternoon or evening not only with baseball but at an incredible community event.”
MLB says systemic changes are needed to improve working conditions for minor league players, including improving the quality of facilities where they play, the Times reported. The agreement between Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball expires after the 2020 season, and the proposal was floated as part of negotiations between the two entities.
Kyle Bostwick, the Lake Monsters’ vice president, said the team was watching the negotiations but stressed the proposal was early in the negotiation process.
“It is right now just an idea being floated in the back-and-forth of a negotiation,” he said. “We’re certainly watching it, but we hope that there’s not too much stock put into it because there’s as good a chance that it doesn’t happen as anything.”
MLB considered the proximity to the major league team, the conditions of the facilities and everyday life factors such as hotel availability and general security in deciding which teams would lose affiliation, Morgan Sword, senior vice president of league economics and operations for MLB, told the Times.
The Lake Monsters are a coast away from their major league guardians, and Centennial Field opened in 1906, making it one of the oldest baseball fields in the country.
The Times story drew immediate concern from Lake Monsters fans, including Rep. Peter Welch.
Welch joined 104 other members of Congress in writing a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred opposing the proposal, and said in a statement it would be a “grave mistake” for the league to follow through.
“Minor league baseball teams like our beloved Lake Monsters are part of the fabric of communities across the county,” he said. “They provide affordable, family friendly entertainment and help drive local economies.”
Welch said that if MLB were to move forward, he and other representatives would look at “statutory advantages afforded to the MLB by Congress over the years, including its lucrative antitrust exemption.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders expressed opposition to the proposal on Twitter.
“Closing down Minor League teams, like the Vermont Lake Monsters, would be a disaster for baseball fans, workers, and communities across the country,” he said. “We must protect these teams from corporate greed.”
Bostwick said the team has a “tremendous relationship” with the Athletics and said there are many “unanswered questions” about the dream league proposal.
“We don’t know anything about the business model,” he said. “We don’t know anything about how that would even work. … It’s based on one side of a proposal during a negotiation. So it’s not anything that we’re even considering right now.”
Dozens of players who have played at Centennial Field have made it to the majors, including Chicago Cubs second baseman Addison Russell, Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon and former Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay.
Outfielders Ken Griffey Jr. and Paul O’Neill both played at Centennial Field when it housed a Class AA franchise in the 1980s — Griffey for the Vermont Mariners and O’Neill for the Vermont Reds.
The team employs more than 225 full- and part-time employees and is responsible for the renting of 1,000 hotel rooms in the region each summer, Bostwick said.
“We’re a tremendous place for people to spend an amazing summer evening with people that they care about,” Bostwick said. “Our impact on the local community is one that we take great pride in, and it’s one that we hope to continue to be a part of.”
The team averages just over 2,300 fans a game for its 38-game home schedule, Bostwick said.
Pecor led a more-than $2 million renovation of Centennial Field starting in 2012 that upgraded the stadium to meet league standards. These upgrades included a substantial renovation of the grandstand, new seats, a new infield and video board, among other upgrades, Bostwick said.
Wright, a New York Yankees fan, said that Pecor’s funding had made Centennial Field a better place for local fans.
“To pull the rug out from under them and the Lake Monsters would be really unfortunate, and I just hope Major League Baseball rethinks this,” he said. “It’s a really bad idea.”
Sword also told the Times that the new model would fill the teams with players from local markets.
But the state’s only Division 1 school, the University of Vermont, eliminated its baseball program for financial reasons in 2009. The university’s decision to cut the program was very controversial, and signs urging the university to bring back the program still stand around the city.
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger won a high school state championship for Woodstock Union High School in 1987 at Centennial Field. He still plays in an over-35 league, where he is the catcher for former Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee.
Weinberger, a Red Sox fan, said he and his family love going to Lake Monsters games, and he was concerned about the proposal that could threaten the franchise.
“A lot of important lessons in life I learned on the baseball field, and losing the Lake Monsters would be a real erosion of the sport in a pretty large region,” he said.
