Minor league team to mark affiliation with Atlanta
ZEBULON, N.C. — The Carolina Mudcats are welcoming the Atlanta Braves back to the Research Triangle area as their new parent club.
A news conference is scheduled for Thursday at Five County Stadium in Zebulon.
Among the Braves’ officials to be on hand for the news conference are team president John Schuerholtz, interim general manager John Hart, Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, current manager Fredi Gonzalez and senior vice president and CFO Chip Moore.
[Editor’s Note: There’s that triumvirate again – Schuerholtz, Hart, and Cox. Much more active lately, eh? ALSO: for those awaiting the firing of Fredi Gonzalez… if that were even remotely being contemplated – he would not be making the trip. ]
Unsuccessful In Wilmington, Braves Find N.C. Home For Minor League Team
JENNY CALLISON / WILMINGTONBIZ.COM
Zebulon, North Carolina, has caught the ball that recently was pitched to Wilmington.
Atlanta Braves officials announced this week that the organization will move its Advanced-A affiliate from the Lynchburg, Virginia Hillcats to the Zebulon-based Carolina Mudcats. That agreement, which allows the team to move closer to Atlanta while remaining in the Carolina League, comes almost two years after Wilmington voters rejected a plan to build a stadium that would have brought the team to town.
“We are delighted to reach this agreement with the Carolina Mudcats,” John Schuerholz, Braves president, said in the release. “This move will allow us to continue our long-standing affiliation with the Carolina League.”
The Mudcats play at Five County Stadium, about 25 miles east of Raleigh. And the fact that the Mudcats already have a stadium may have made the deal sweeter than the one Braves officials pitched to Wilmington in 2012. A Wilmington Braves franchise would have required the city to spend about $37 million to build a new stadium.
When opponents gathered enough signatures to place a stadium bond referendum on the ballot in November 2012, about 70 percent of voters gave it a thumbs-down.
Meanwhile, No More News on Coaching Personnel
ALAN CARPENTER / TOMAHAWKTAKE.COM
There was a lot of buzz surrounding meetings that were to take place Wednesday between Interim GM John Hart and Fredi Gonzalez – the kind of meetings in which the staff discuss the season just ended, the season to come going forward, and … of particular interest to Braves’ fans… the staff that might be making the transition from “past” to “future”.
But there was no news coming out of those offices yesterday.
The only hint of things to come continues to point to a team with Fredi Gonzalez remaining as major league manager for the foreseeable future. Fredi is said to be among those traveling to Zebulon, NC to participate in the formal introduction of the Player Development Contract between the Braves and the Carolina Mudcats – a 2-year deal that keeps a Braves High-A affiliate in the Carolina League through the 2016 season.
“Outside” hitting coach Greg Walker resigned earlier in the week – perhaps a case of falling onto one’s own bat as a sacrifice for others. “Inside/video” hitting coach specialist Scott Fletcher remains on staff at this time, in addition to the rest of the major league staff.
Thus we continue to wait.
Atlanta Braves Morning Chop