Greedy MLB Owners Show Their True Colors Once Again

By now it is old news that the Seattle Mariners will pull their single A team, the Modesto Nuts out of Modesto, after the 2024 season. It is not clear yet where the team will go to, but it is clear that the owners of the Mariners are too greedy to pay for the wanted improvements of John Thurman Field. |

Earlier this week, the city of Modesto announced that the local affiliated ball club, the Modesto Nuts will leave the town after this season. There have been long negotiations between the Seattle Mariners (owner of the Nuts) and the city of Modesto.

But the city of Modesto came up with this statement the other week:

“The Seattle Mariners and the City of Modesto announced today that a mutual agreement on a long-term lease extension for the California League Modesto Nuts could not be reached. While both entities hoped for a more favorable outcome, the negotiations were unsuccessful, and the current lease agreement will expire on September 30, 2024. 

Due to the Lease expiration, the 2024 season will be the final season of the Nuts in Modesto at John Thurman Field.

“We’re disappointed we were unable to agree upon an extension,” said Nuts General Manager, Veronica Hernandez. “I know we and the city worked very hard to find common ground and unfortunately were unable to accomplish our goal.

“We are thankful for the legacy the Modesto Nuts leaves behind and we wish them the very best success in their future endeavors,” said Mayor Sue Zwahlen.   “Negotiations can be very challenging, and we worked diligently over the last year with the Modesto Nuts to explore various solutions.”

 “Modesto has welcomed our players and staff with open arms, and we’ve very much enjoyed our experience playing in John Thurman Field in front of the terrific fans of the greater Modesto area,” Hernandez continued.  “Our hope and plan is to conclude the 2024 season the same way we finished 2023: By hoisting a Cal League Championship Banner.”

In October of 2016, the Seattle Mariners came in as partial owners of the organization with HWS (a private ownership group). In November of 2020, the Seattle Mariners stepped in to fully acquire the organization. Professional baseball in Modesto has acquired some hardware, with 10 championships, two of which were as a Seattle Mariners affiliate.

But what is the case? Since MLB committed a revolution in MiLB and gained power, the greedy MLB is demanding that MiLB clubs improve their facilities in favor of the players; so better club houses, better indoor facilities, etc. The greedy MLB owners do this under the threat of moving out if their demands are not met. This is exactly what has happened with the Nuts. Their parent club, the Mariners, demanded that the facilities should be improved for an amount of $32 MM. The city of Modesto should have paid for this.

I will be the last to say that every MiLB ballpark is in great shape. A Dutch former pitcher, who had a cup of coffee in the Bigs told me once that some facilities are bad. Poor maintenance, filthy, pests, to name a few. So I understand the demands of the MLB owners, but I wonder, now the Mariners are the owner of the Nuts, and they want to improve the player facilities, why don’t they pay for it themselves?

This is exactly what I mean with greedy MLB owners. They want to get the most out of it, without having to pay for it.