Future of 51s

The Las Vegas 51s have their third major league affiliation in five years, and it's not because big league clubs are beating down the team's door with ever-sweeter offers. Rather, the 51s have the least-appealing facilities in AAA baseball. The age of Cashman Field and the lack of amenities for players keep giving franchises a reason to look elsewhere for player development.

This week, the New York Mets became the 51s' new parent club when the Toronto Blue Jays bolted for Buffalo's Coca-Cola Field. The 51s and the Mets "were the proverbial last two kids picked on the playground," the Review-Journal's Todd Dewey reported Monday, with "no other option than to join forces" because every other available big league and minor league club already had struck a deal elsewhere. The same scenario played out in 2008, when the Los Angeles Dodgers left Las Vegas and the Blue Jays were left stuck with the 51s.

Cashman Field's days are numbered. Any doubt about that was erased at last week's meeting of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board. The authority owns Cashman Field, and the 51s' owner, Stars Las Vegas LLC, wants to sell the team to Summerlin Las Vegas Baseball Club LLC, a joint venture between The Howard Hughes Corp. and Steven Mack. As part of its purchase, Summerlin Las Vegas Baseball Club wants a four-year lease extension at Cashman Field through Dec. 31, 2022.

(Stephens Media, which owns the Review-Journal, retains an option to acquire 10 percent of the franchise, but does not currently own a stake in the team.)

At the board meeting, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman protested that with downtown redevelopment accelerating, she didn't want to commit to keeping an already outdated stadium for another 10 years. She said developers from California and outside the United States are interested in acquiring the 57-acre site.

"We're at a critical point in this city. ... This is a huge commitment for the city," Mayor Goodman said. A vote on the lease extension was delayed until next month.

Indeed, with online retailer Zappos moving into the old City Hall and the opening of The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, the downtown landscape is changing rapidly. Now would be a great time to ask whether minor league baseball should remain a downtown attraction. If Cashman Field could be razed within a decade, is there any interest in building a new stadium? And if so, where would it go and who would pay for it? This dialogue should be much broader, not limited to a sparsely attended visitors authority board meeting.

The 51s have long provided Las Vegas families with affordable entertainment. Whether the team is affiliated with the Mets, the Blue Jays or any other club matters little to fans, as long as they see good baseball and can enjoy hot dogs and beer, fireworks and bobbleheads.

But major league teams and the momentum of downtown revitalization are sending this community a message: Cashman Field is, by today's minor league baseball standards, inadequate and unworthy of major renovations.

So what are we going to do about it?