Thursday it was announced that Kansas City Royals and Wilmington Blue Rocks have renewed their player development contract for 2 more seasons. This means the Blue Rocks will continue to the Advance ‘A’ minor league baseball affiliate of the Royals through the 2014 season.
Courtesy of Blue Rocks assistant director of media relations Jeff O’Connor, this was a quote from Blue Rocks general manager Chris Kemple “We are thrilled to once again renew our affiliation agreement with the Kansas City Royals. They have been a first-class organization to work with and we look forward to the next two seasons. With this agreement, we will have partnered with the Royals in 20 of our 22 seasons. The Blue Rocks and Royals have almost become synonymous with each other.”
Now I did write earlier on how the PDC wasn’t renew at that time and what could be some options for the Rocks if it ever came to making that decision. Being around the ballpark I can tell you that there wasn’t a nervous energy or worry with the team. The Rocks and Royals have a strong relationship for 20 out of 22 seasons and it doesn’t look like its going to end soon.
But there was a time that the Royals and Blue Rocks didn’t have a PDC. Everyone knows the Rocks were associated with the Boston Red Sox during the 2005 and 2006 seasons but where did the Royals move their advance ‘A’ interests during that time.
The answer is the High Desert Mavericks of the California League. They had a 2 year record of 148-128 and qualified for the playoffs both years. Not bad but upon closer look the team’s attendance was one of the lowest in the California League. Maybe that was one of the factors that brought Kansas City back to Wilmington. If it was I’m glad cause the Blue Rocks are one of the best things to happen to Wilmington area. Congrats on another 2 years.
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