IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
The High Desert Mavericks, the Class A minor league baseball affiliate that has called Adelanto home for 26 seasons, will soon be no more.
The Mavericks, a Texas Rangers affiliate, along with the Bakersfield Blaze, will cease operations at the end of this season, California League officials announced Monday.
Starting in 2017, the California League will be an eight-team league, California League President Charlie Blaney said in a statement posted on the league’s website.
Blaney offered no explanation for the move, except to say that it was done “for the good of minor league baseball” and was taken only because no better option existed.
Since January, the team has been locked in a nasty dispute with the city of Adelanto, which owns the stadium where the Mavericks play their home games, and Main Street California Inc. the team’s owner.
The dispute, which has led to several lawsuits, centered around the lease agreement between the city and the team, maintenance of the stadium and how many non-baseball events would be held there.
Because those disputes have yet to be settled, and because more lawsuits are possible, Adelanto officials declined to comment on the California League’s decision.
