Goodbye Columbus?
The Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday the Clippers will not renew the Nationals' two year agreement and will let the deal expire September 1st. Ray Stein, sports editor for the Columbus Dispatch, told me this was pretty much a foregone conclusion.
He said the Nationals were a "stop gap" between Columbus losing the New York Yankees two years ago and waiting for the Cleveland Indians or Cincinnati Reds to become available.
The Clippers have been interested in getting the Cleveland Indians for obvious reasons -- local fan support, good television ratings and proximity to the city by the Lake. With the Reds locked into Louisville as their Triple A home, the Indians proved to be a logical choice.
Ray said the Clippers have been "happy" with their relationship with the Nats and their was nothing wrong with the marriage, but they would prefer the Indians because of the Tribe's fan base in Ohio. The Clippers are opening up a new stadium, Huntington Park in downtown Columbus next season, and wanted to get a boost with a local team to play there, so the Indians appear to be the answer.
Where does this leave the Nationals? Triple A contracts in Buffalo, New Orleans, Memphis, Omaha and Syracuse become available at the end of the season. Geographically, a likely scenario would be the Mets moving to Syracuse and Toronto going to Buffalo. I cannot see Omaha losing the Kansas City Royals with a new stadium coming to Omaha hopefully by 2011 and the geographic connection down Interstate 29.
Richmond, despite losing the Atlanta Braves, is not available due to a variety of reasons including the state of the aging ballpark, the Diamond. A Double A team appears the likely suitor in Richmond sometime in the future.
Unless other cities become available, that leaves New Orleans and Memphis. So would the Nationals go back to New Orleans? Lots of teams may be interested in New Orleans, including the Cardinals, Marlins, Diamondbacks and Dodgers.
Some rumblings have St. Louis or Florida making more geographic sense to go to New Orleans. Does that leave Memphis? The Memphis Natbirds? The RiverNats? The Nationals told me they cannot comment on this until September 1st. Stay tuned....
For more on the Clippers' decision to look for a new Major League affiliate:
Columbus Dispatch article: Clippers to seek new major-league affiliate
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