What's next for baseball in Kinston?
Today, the Texas Rangers announced the sale of the Down East Wood Ducks to Diamond Baseball Holdings, a private equity firm with an expansive portfolio of more than twelve minor league teams. The Kinston City Council was informed of the sale this morning, after being made aware of its possibility a few months ago.
The City Council has agreed to assign the existing stadium lease from the Texas Rangers to the new owners, and I look forward to working with Diamond Baseball Holdings as they become the City’s new tenant at Historic Grainger Stadium. The Down East Wood Ducks team will remain an affiliate of the Texas Rangers under its new ownership.
It's my understanding that the Texas Rangers affiliated team will eventually move to Spartanburg, South Carolina at some point after 2025. This was reported today in Spartanburg’s Post & Courier, with an announcement that the team will be housed in a $250 million dollar mixed-use development to include the stadium, apartments, offices, and entertainment options. The stadium would have 3,500 fixed seats, on top of a 5,000 square foot Club Room.
There are a number of factors that could have influenced the Texas Rangers’ decision to sell the Down East Wood Ducks, and Diamond Baseball Holdings’ decision to relocate the team to South Carolina. Some will attribute it to the City Council’s 2019 delay to fund a new scoreboard at the stadium (this was prior to me joining the City Council), while others may say that the Wood Ducks’ challenges to return to their pre-pandemic game attendance may be a bigger reason. There’s much to speculate about, but my impression is that our community just did not have the amenities and market to support the current landscape of professional baseball.
Kinston City Councilman Chris Suggs at Historic Grainger Stadium on April 21, 2023 as the City Council announced the formation of the Historic Grainger Stadium Commission.
The existing stadium lease for Grainger Stadium is through 2031, and unless Diamond Baseball Holdings decides to terminate their lease, I look forward to working with them to maintain baseball in Kinston. Last month, I introduced a proposal for the City of Kinston to establish the Historic Grainger Stadium Commission. There are a number of other baseball leagues and options that communities of our size have been able to attract and maintain, such as wood-bat leagues like the Coastal Plains League, other collegiate-level summer leagues, or exhibition baseball teams. I’m hopeful that our city leadership, the Historic Grainger Stadium Commission, baseball fans, and Diamond Baseball Holdings will be able to work together to identify a new option for Grainger Stadium baseball after the Wood Ducks’ departure.
Yours in community,
Chris
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Chris J. Suggs was elected to the Kinston City Council in November 2021 and is currently the youngest elected official in North Carolina. The Kinston City Council hosts its Regular Meetings on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 5:30PM and 7:00PM, respectively.