Which minor league baseball team is most likely to move to Columbus? We have an answer

Mark Rice
·4 min read

After the Ledger-Enquirer reported the news last week that city officials are talking with a company to possibly move one of its minor league baseball teams to Columbus, the natural question is:

Which team?

Mayor Skip Henderson told the L-E Friday that the discussions with New York-based Diamond Baseball Holdings haven’t been about any specific teams and no timeline has been set. The L-E didn’t reach a DBH official for comment before publication. But none of that stopped our curiosity from speculating.

DBH owns the most minor league teams in professional baseball, according to Baseball Reference. Despite forming only two years ago, DBH has 16 teams already in the company’s portfolio or with pending purchase contracts as of March 24.

Thanks to help from two local experts — former L-E sports reporter and columnist Guerry Clegg and former L-E sports correspondent and Golden Park scorekeeper Kathy Gierer — we considered various factors involved in such a decision, looked at the list of DBH teams and determined the Atlanta Braves’ Class AA club in Mississippi is the most likely target for relocation to Columbus.

Here’s why:

Location

A study published on the FanGraphs website shows MLB franchises have been moving their minor league affiliates closer to their major league city during the past few decades.

Sandra Adams celebrates her catch of a foul ball in the fifth inning of a doubleheader between the Chatt-a-Hoots and the Alpharetta Aviators Saturday afternoon, July 3, 2021. The Hoots lost both games.
Sandra Adams celebrates her catch of a foul ball in the fifth inning of a doubleheader between the Chatt-a-Hoots and the Alpharetta Aviators Saturday afternoon, July 3, 2021. The Hoots lost both games.

Reasons mentioned include:

  • Reducing the travel time it takes to shuffle players (as well as scouts and front office staff) between the organization’s levels.

  • Generating more interest by marketing the minor league teams with the notion that fans could see “tomorrow’s stars today” or even current All-Stars from their favorite MLB team on assignment to rehab an injury.

Affiliation

DBH just so happens to own the Atlanta Braves’ four farm teams above the rookie level:

  • Augusta GreenJackets, Class A, Carolina League

  • Rome Braves, Advanced Class A, South Atlantic League

  • Mississippi Braves, Class AA, Southern League

  • Gwinnett Stripers, Class AAA, International League.

Although the Gwinnett Stripers had the lowest attendance in the 20-team International League last season, Columbus probably is too small in market size and stadium capacity for Class AAA, the highest minor league level.

Depending on which source you use, the capacity of Golden Park in Columbus (2020 census pop. 206,922) ranges from 3,500 to 5,000. The Class AAA stadium capacities range from 6,500 in Tacoma (2020 census pop. 221,776) to 16,600 in Buffalo (2020 census pop. 278,349).

The Augusta GreenJackets had the highest attendance in the 12-team Carolina League last season, so there’s no reason for that team to move.

The Rome Braves had the lowest attendance in the 12-team South Atlantic League last season, but their stadium is only 61 miles from the Atlanta Braves headquarters.

Why the Mississippi Braves are most likely come to Columbus

All of which leaves and points to the the Mississippi Braves — the only Atlanta Braves affiliate not in Georgia.

They play in Pearl, a suburb of the state capital, Jackson (pop. 153,705). The club had the second-lowest attendance in eight-team Southern League last season.

Their home stadium is Trustmark Park, built in 2005 for approximately $28 million, with a capacity for 8,480 fans. It’s part of a privately funded 30-acre, mixed-use development anchored by a 130,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shop.

What Columbus needs to attract a minor league baseball team

Something similar would have to be developed to return minor league baseball to Columbus for the first time since 2008. That’s why city and state leaders removed a covenant that blocked private development in the South Commons area around Golden Park.

And that helped attract interest from DBH.

“One of the things that they have had success with is partnerships, where there are multi-use structures that are adjacent to those stadiums,” Henderson told the L-E. “… It’s all just kind of dreaming right now, but maybe restaurants, sports bars, maybe a hotel. You just never know. That would be handled by the private sector. If we get to that point, we’d have to do an RFP (request for proposals) and try to do some master planning.”

Golden Park is in Columbus, Georgia.
Golden Park is in Columbus, Georgia.

Golden Park was built in 1951 and renovated in 1996 to host the Olympic softball competition. Another renovation to the facility would be needed for a minor league baseball team, Henderson said.

“There certainly would have to be some upgrades and maybe even some enlargement, depending on what level of minor league baseball would come in,” he said.

Golden Park now is home to two teams, the Columbus Chatt-a-Hoots and the Chattahoochee Monsters, in the Sunbelt Baseball League, a summer season for college players.