Future of Renegades Baseball in Limbo
The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 8–4 on March 12th at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Fla. That was the last Spring Training game that the Rays played before Major League Baseball suspended play as a result of the rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout the country.
Nobody knew how long the sport would be on pause for, but after four months on July 23rd, baseball players took the diamond again to start regular season play in a truncated 60-game season, compared to the regular 162-game regular season.
At least the big leaguers got to play again.
On June 30th, Major League Baseball made another announcement canceling the minor league baseball season for every club affiliated with major league teams, including the Tampa Bay Rays’ own Hudson Valley Renegades.
“It was devastating,” said Renegades Vice President Rick Zolzer.
The Renegades are the Rays’ Class A Short Season affiliate, which is one step up from the lowest minor league tier of Rookie Ball.
The team plays their home games at Dutchess Stadium, or as its affectionately called by locals “The Dutch,” located in Fishkill, N.Y. With the loss of the season, the Stadium lost more than just baseball, but also lost events the venue hosts throughout the calendar year as well.
“We host two golf tournaments, a home run derby, two comedy shows, a bowl-a-thon, and a softball tournament to name a few,” said Zolzer. “We host about 16 special events throughout the given year.”
“The fact that we have no ticket revenue or food and beverage revenue has been very challenging,” said Joe Ausanio, President of Baseball Operations. “We have had to furlough employees.”
The Stadium is not the only business that was affected by the pandemic as many of the surrounding businesses experienced substantially lower incomes as well.
“The trickle-down effect is immeasurable,” said Ausanio. “From the part time jobs lost to the businesses around the stadium, lost income and revenues were impacted greatly within our community.”
As a way to make some revenue, the Renegades have been trying to host as many events as possible, but with mass gatherings still not allowed, the stadium’s capacity was capped at 25 percent.
“In essence, we can have about 1,200 people inside and still be socially distanced safely,” said Ausanio. “We have also been running camps and clinics for baseball, and renting out our facility for AAU and travel ball tournaments as they have been allowed under the New York State COVID-19 rules set forth.”
The official capacity of Dutchess Stadium is 4,494, so having a crowd of 1,200 would not cut it if baseball activities are allowed to resume.
Even that is up in the air. Last October, Major League Baseball announced that 42 minor league affiliates would be eliminated with the expiration of the Professional Baseball Agreement between MLB and minor league teams.
“The Renegades were not in the initial plans to be contracted,” said Ausanio, “but we were very upset because a lot of communities would be losing their affiliates.”
With the Renegades avoiding elimination, the focus is now on 2021 and beyond. However, they don’t know where to start.
“We’re waiting for Major League Baseball to tell us what’s next,” said Zolzer. “They haven’t given us any guidance on how to come back.”
The team has reached out to its season-ticket holders and advertisers to keep them informed about the future of Renegades baseball, while remaining optimistic.
Major League Baseball has the home-field advantage. The overlying entity determines the fates of its Minor League affiliates. In regards to the Hudson Valley Renegades having a future, Ausanio said, “I sure hope so.”
