MA Senators Join Effort To Save Lowell Spinners, 41 Other Teams

LOWELL, MA — Massachusetts' Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey have joined the push to save the Lowell Spinners and 41 other minor league teams from a Major League Baseball proposal to sever their affiliations with MLB teams. The two senators, in a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, said they opposed the idea. Their letter came days after U.S. Rep Lori Trahan, who represents Lowell, launched the bipartisan "Save Minor League Baseball Task Force," with colleagues, minor league team owners and the president of Minor League Baseball.

"This scheme would cause significant economic damage to the City of Lowell, eliminate an

important piece of the community's cultural footprint, and disappoint baseball fans of all ages all while doing long-term damage to the game's ability to keep and grow its fan base," Warren and Markey wrote in their letter.

The Lowell Spinners are a single A, short-season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. They've been in Lowell for over 20 years, and from 1999 to August 30, 2010, the team sold out every ticket to every home game, believed to be a record. Future Red Sox world series champions like Jonathan Papelbon, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Mookie Betts have passed through the team over the years.

The majority of the teams in MLB's sights would be put into a "Dream League," essentially an independent league for non-drafted players looking for their break. Thirteen are targeted for outright elimination, although the owners of the others do not see much of a difference. The senators' letter, published Friday, notes that the proposal seems particularly galling given recent investments by the teams and legislation by congress.

"In 2017, the Spinners and the City of Lowell invested almost $1 million to upgrade the field's lights and the playing surface and make other improvements to ensure that stadium quality exceeded the requirements for a minor league team affiliated with the Red Sox," Markey and Warren wrote. "And Congress, in May 2018, created a minimum wage exemption for Minor League Baseball players - which we continue to oppose - ostensibly to help reduce costs and ensure the viability of minor league teams across the country."

Other teams on the chopping block include those in states with no major league teams at all, like the West Virginia Power, the Billings Mustangs, in Montana, and the Kingsport Mets, in Tennessee. Some have a very lengthy history, like the Chattanooga Lookouts, which are over 100 years old.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or [email protected].