Potential for More Fall Ball in Arizona

While the decisions have yet to be made, there seems to be the possibility for an extra dose of fall baseball to come to Arizona. Making it more convenient for scouts, even more of the top prospects may be coming to the valley next fall. The buzz comes as a result of the expiration of the Hawaii winter baseball three-year contract and ideas that have already been previously discussed.

Since early in the 90’s, MLB has been experimenting with the idea of having fall baseball in the Midwest, California’s Inland Empire and the East Coast. None of these ventures would end up panning out which would revive the idea of having baseball in Hawaii. Currently there are four teams that compete during the Winter/ Fall League in Hawaii that have the possibility of coming to the Phoenix area.

One of the influencing factors is the baseball infrastructure that the Phoenix Metro area already has. With the addition of new ballparks in 2009 and 2010, there seems to be more room for the teams to play here. Historically, the players of the AFL are generally a little more experienced than those of the Hawaii baseball league which would potentially create the need for their own circuit in which they can compete. Alternatively, roster requirements can be passed down to make all teams competitive so that they are playing each other more than twice a week.

Although Hawaiian fans may be clearly disappointed, the business justification seems to make sense. Making it more convenient for the teams and their scouts would be beneficial to the organizations and more affordable for most fans. Admittedly we are a little biased being in Arizona but locale aside, whether die-hard fans agree or not, MLB is a business and bringing the competition to a single place would benefit the teams, scouts, players, organizations; and in this case, Arizona.