Mt. Rainier Professional Baseball League - Is it legit?

[MacDice]

There are a lot of players who get passed over in the draft and want to continue to chase their professional dreams. Finding players for the league is not an issue in fact I have a lot of my former players who have signed to play in that league we will see how it will do. The Mike Greene is putting a lot of effort into getting the league off the ground.

I see tryouts are scheduled across the state, the Ellensburg Bulls have hired Dan Schwam to manage the team, and signed 16 players thus far. I am sure Mike has his hands full.

One concern is: the math seems to be off. He claims 200 people in the stands every game will cover expenses. Players are to be paid $100-$150 per week (depending on attendance). 24 man rosters. That's $4,800 minimum expenditures on $4,800 revenue in ticket sales for every other week Thursday-Sunday games. The operating budget is $0? Logistically I don't see how it is possible to have a team in Whitefish, Montana play a league opponent in Oregon City on an operating budget of $0. I am sure there are other avenues to raise revenue for a ballclub, but this seems unrealistic.

I want professional baseball in Ellensburg probably worse than anyone, but always thought the West Coast League was a better opportunity with more infrastructure. I wish him the best of luck, but sincerely hope Mike's efforts do not sour the appetite for organized baseball here.

[D. Bergin]

I imagine they will depend on concessions to make up the gap. Whenever I go to minor league games with my family, we always spend way more in the stadium then we ever do on the actual tickets.

That said, most of these Independent leagues bleed money. Hopefully they have a benefactor behind them that this doesn't matter a whole lot to.

Concessions and merchandise may help, but I find reports like the following disheartening, especially the responses by Mike Greene. However, many wrinkles may have been ironed out between October and March:

https://ballparkbiz.wordpress.com/20...seball-league/

[steve B]

Looks a bit strange, but maybe they have some idea to make it all work. Minor league ball in general was a money loser until the advent of marketing the logos and adding more entertainment like stunts or Tshirt slingshots to the games.

Nashua had/has? and independent team and while the stadium was a bit bigger, it wasn't huge or fancy. The baseball was actually quite good, both teams I saw were a mix of undrafted guys giving it another try or two and ex- major leaguers either playing for fun, or attempting a slim chance comeback. The ticket was really inexpensive, and seating was sort of wherever you wanted. We sat a bit behind home plate, far enough back to be near a couple scouts with radar guns. Pretty nice outing overall.

Steve B

[Tabe]

Moses Lake? I'm willing to make the drive to check out a game before Spokane's season starts...

Don't get your hopes up. Not to be confused with the Moses Lake Rattlers Fast-Pitch Softball team, the Moses Lake Rattlesnakes baseball team appointed a manager Simon Walters Nov. 20, 2014, and have only signed 3 players according to the MRPBL site. None since February 4, 2015. Teams as of today are: Ellensburg Bulls, Moses Lake Rattlesnakes, Glacier (Montana) Grizzlies, Oregon City Mud Turtles, Skagit Valley Lumberjacks, and Grays Harbor Gulls.

When I go to the site, I see they are selling season tickets, 10-game packages, and apparel for Moses Lake. What I don't see is a schedule, or any direct contact info for the team. Strange for a league that has Opening Day in two months.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moses...13116005544863
http://mrpbl.pointstreaksites.com/view/mrpbl

Edited to add: It took some digging, but here's the potential 2015 season schedule for the Moses Lake Rattlesnakes, and roster with 15 pitchers?! Mike Greene has replaced Keith Marshall as GM, Marshall retains his GM job for Ellensburg. This is comically chaotic:
http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/...seasonid=29081