Baseball, city officials mum about what comes next for Modesto Nuts, John Thurman Field

Days after the city announced Wednesday that this will be the last season for the Modesto Nuts, there are no answers on a new home for the minor league baseball team and the future of the city’s John Thurman Field.

Could another minor league team affiliated with Major League Baseball play at John Thurman Field? What about a team from an independent league? These are among the questions Nuts fans and Modesto residents are asking on social media.

The Nuts are leaving Modesto because the city and the Seattle Mariners ball club, which owns the Nuts, could not come to terms over a long-term lease extension for the team to continue to play at Thurman Field.

The Nuts’ current lease ends Sept. 30. There has been minor league baseball in Modesto for nearly 80 years.

The deal-breaker was who would pay for MLB-mandated improvements to John Thurman Field. The cost was $32 million, according to a city memo, which cited as its source a study commissioned by the Mariners.

Modesto said it was disappointed that a new agreement could not be reached and valued the Nuts’ contributions to the community, but it “negotiated in the best interest of our community and being fiscally responsible to our taxpayers,” according to the memo, which was sent to City Council members.

MLB established the facility improvements in 2020 for all of its 120 affiliated minor league teams across the nation. The deadline to complete the improvements is 2025. MLB started operating the minor leagues in 2021 and besides the stadium upgrades it has increased players’ salaries and reduced the number of teams from 160 to 120.

The facility improvements focus on the players and include larger clubhouses, better training facilities, brighter lighting on the field, separate locker rooms for women and separate food preparation and dining areas.

The publication Baseball America reported in May 2022 that Major League Baseball could take away the licenses of minor league teams that don’t comply with the new facility standards and send the teams to other cities.

What the Nuts’ general manager had to say

Nuts General Manager Veronica Hernandez declined to answer questions emailed to her by The Bee, including whether it’s possible for a new agreement to be reached that would have the Nuts back at John Thurman Field next season, or whether another minor league team could take their place.

She issued this statement: “... Our total focus was on reaching an agreement with the City of Modesto on a new lease. We are only now turning our attention to other options. When we have more information to share we will share it with you. But for now, I don’t think it is productive to delve into the questions you sent.”

Negotiations between the city and the Mariners took place over at least a couple of years.

City officials did not respond to requests for an interview this week regarding the future of Thurman Field, but the memo states Modesto is “committed to exploring new sports and entertainment opportunities that will continue to enhance the quality of life for all residents in our community.”

There has been minor league baseball in Modesto since 1946, first with the Modesto Reds and then the Modesto A’s from 1976 to 2004. The team became a Colorado Rockies affiliate in 2005 and was renamed the Modesto Nuts. The Mariners took over in 2017. Thurman has been the home for minor league baseball since it opened in the mid-1950s.

Sticker shock at cost of ballpark upgrades

Baseball America also reported in May 2022 that minor leagues teams across the country were facing sticker shock as the cost of upgrading their facilities ballooned.

The publication reported in a Wednesday story about the Nuts leaving Modesto that there are “concerns that some minor league teams, especially on the West Coast, are unlikely to get the necessary upgrades to meet those standards. Modesto seems to be the first team to make that official.”

The Nuts are a member of the California League and are classified as a low A team.

One possibility for John Thurman Field is landing a team from the Pioneer League , which features two California teams: the Oakland Ballers and Yolo High Wheelers. Both joined the league this season.

The league features professional baseball but its teams are not directly affiliated with Major League Baseball so they don’t have to comply with MLB’s new facility standards.

A new team would need financing to come to Modesto, said Melissa Lockard, a senior editor with The Athletic. Still, she said, Modesto is intriguing.

“I could see (the Pioneer League) trying to take advantage of the fact that the Cal League has been hit really hard with the stadium upgrade requirements that Major League Baseball is trying to do with all these stadiums now,” Lockard said.