garnetpalmetto
Jerkministrator
So what's going on with Lowell that would make the Boston Redsox pull out in favor of buying Batavia and parking them in Pawtucket? Near as I could tell everyone was happy with the arrangement. It makes no sense to me that Boston would ruin a good situation in Lowell just to hand an already angry fanbase in Pawtucket what they would see as an inferior product going from full season AAA to short season low A.
The only way I see this working for Lowell is if they get a full season single A team in return. So what's the affiliation picture look like for the advanced A Salem Red Sox in the Carolina League or the standard A Greenville Drive of the South Atlantic League?
I know distance is an issue, but if just a couple teams shift north in a couple years it suddenly becomes feasible. There are already teams in New Jersey anyway.
I doubt it'd be feasible even if "a couple teams" shift north. Let's start with the South Atlantic League. The first problem you have is that the Drive aren't owned by the Red Sox, they're just affiliated with them and that affiliation is on the book until 2020. So, Boston would have to purchase an extant South Atlantic League team. The Drive's owners would likely have no interest in selling, especially given that the team is one of the best attended and well-regarded in the League. The only South Atlantic League team really in precarious shape with regards to its stadium situation are the Hagerstown Suns. The Suns play in the SAL's North Division, which currently consists of teams in Charleston, WV; Greensboro, NC; Hagerstown, MD; Hickory, NC; Kannapolis, NC; Lakewood, NJ; and Salisbury, MD. So let's say you have the Red Sox purchase the Suns and relocate them to Pawtucket - that would quite likely stretch that division out a bit too far. At present, the furthest city pair in the division is Hickory-Lakewood at 630 miles. Replace Hagerstown with Pawtucket and over half the division now has a further drive than that and the furthest pairing becomes Hickory-Pawtucket at 828 miles.
As for the Carolina League, while the Red Sox do own Salem and could relocate them at a whim, you'd again run into the issue of distance, except even worse. Salem's in the Northern Division along with Frederick, MD; Lynchburg, VA; Wilmington, DE; and Woodbridge, VA. The Woodbridge team, the Potomac Nationals, have announced their intention to relocate to Fredericksburg, VA, for the 2020 season so let's include that as the city for computational purposes. At present, the furthest city pair in the division is Salem-Wilmington at 347 miles. Replace Salem with Pawtucket and all but one team in the division now has a further drive than that and the furthest pairing becomes Lynchburg-Pawtucket at nearly 600 miles.
In both of these cases we aren't looking at what it would do for the teams in the *other* division that still would have to travel to Pawtucket. I can imagine, for instance, the Charleston RiverDogs or the Myrtle Beach Pelicans not being particularly thrilled with a bus trip to Pawtucket.