Lowell Spinners Among Minor League Teams On MLB'S Chopping Block

LOWELL, MA — Congresswoman Lori Trahan is leading a bipartisan congressional effort to save a group of forty-two minor league teams that Major League Baseball is looking to cut off from their major league teams. Among the teams: the Lowell Spinners, a single A, short-season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Trahan, a Democrat who represents Lowell, and Republican West Virginia Congressman David McKinley, led 104 house members in writing a letter urging the league to abandon its plan.

The Spinners have been in Lowell since 1996, and have seen future Red Sox world series champions like Jonathan Papelbon, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Mookie Betts, who won the American League's 2018 Most Valuable Player award. From 1999 to August 30, 2010, the team sold out every ticket to every home game, believed to be a record. 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.

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.

“The Lowell Spinners and other minor league teams across the United States provide critical economic and cultural benefits to the communities they call home. I was alarmed by news that the MLB is considering a reorganization that will wipe out the Spinners and 41 other minor league teams across the country," said Trahan in a statement. "The Spinners bring enormous pride and joy to the Greater Lowell Community and the City has invested heavily in LeLacheur Park and surrounding infrastructure, providing an affordable, fun night out for families in the region."

“Minor league baseball is an important part of the fabric of communities in all corners of America. These clubs employ thousands of people, donate millions of dollars to local charities, and provide families with affordable entertainment. This proposal to fundamentally change the minor league system would be a blow to small towns in West Virginia and across the nation. I am proud to help lead this effort to protect minor league baseball and the communities it serves,” said McKinley.

“The abandonment of Minor League clubs by Major League Baseball would devastate our communities, their bond purchasers, and other stakeholders affected by the potential loss of these clubs. We want you to fully understand the impact this could have not only on the communities we represent, but also on the long-term support that Congress has always afforded our national pastime on a wide variety of legislative initiatives,” the Members wrote in a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

“Congresswoman Lori Trahan has stepped up to the plate and connected big time for the Lowell Spinners and all of Minor League Baseball,” said Spinners owner Dave Heller. “Writing a letter that, in less than two weeks, has garnered the signatures of more than one hundred Members of Congress, in a bipartisan manner, is incredibly impressive and speaks volumes about the support Minor League Baseball has in the Merrimack Valley and all across our great country."

"We appreciate Congresswoman Trahan’s outstanding work and her tireless support of our national pastime," Heller continued. "I know everyone in Minor League Baseball feels a little better about our chances of protecting these 42 teams with Lori Trahan on our side.”

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.