Freedom Pro League

[kahunakats]

OK, God only knows who reads this thread but I have a proposal. Let's see how far it goes.
I live in Peoria, Arizona. I am a former owner/GM of a minor league independent baseball team. I am the CEO of a management group that includes people with degrees in sports marketing, former GM's of teams in indoor football, basketball and baseball, corporate web designers, sports editors, former minor league C.O.O's and the former Vice President of the Phoenix Coyotes and Philadelphia Eagles. Here's my proposal: my management group will administer the Freedom Pro Baseball League for the remainder of their season PLUS one month beyond for $2,000 a month-and that includes expenses. Let's see what happens now because I just live down the street from the Peoria complex...

[jdr]

I believe the owner of this league is is managing one of the teams.

[Eddie]

Originally Posted by freedomleaguefan

ON June 25 the Diamondbacks signed an independent league outfielder out of the Midwest. Freedom Pro Baseball League is in their backyard, why was it necessary to go to the Midwest to look for prospects. The answer is obvious, Sperle is not doing his job as a Commissioner of his league. This is the reason that his inexperience in management is going to be his down fall. In order for the league to be successful he is going to have to change.

I was with you until this.
They went there because they found the player they want, that has nothing to do with the league being run worse than little league. Just because you have a league, it doesn't mean you have players that other leagues want. Especially a major league organization.

I see this league as a semi pro league as of now. Until they're willing to step their game up.

[smallballfan]

Here's my proposal: my management group will administer the Freedom Pro Baseball League for the remainder of their season PLUS one month beyond for $2,000 a month-and that includes expenses. Let's see what happens now because I just live down the street from the Peoria complex...

One would think you'd (if you're as successful as you claim) not want to tie your name to this.

They went there because they found the player they want, that has nothing to do with the league being run worse than little league.

Exactly - if you think the major leagues just show up and pick a guy off a team, you're wrong. They track players from high school on and they know where a guy is playing, if he can actually play, all that. They know where the players they track end up going, no matter what league. They track them while they are in those leagues and they know the level of competition so they can accurately track the players.

They don't scout hundreds of players every year then just throw that information away. Even if a guy isn't drafted he's followed if he has any sort of talent, just to later on fill in a spot in a low minor league, like the Backs did there.

The Backs signed a player from an indy league because they know the player, not because of the team or league he happened to be with. If they had a player they were tracking that played in the Antarctic Semi-Pro Beer and Whiskey League, they'd know what he hit in last night's game.

[Eddie]

Marketing is for fans and media not major league organizations and scouts. They will find any player no matter where they are no matter how poor the marketing is.

Finding players has nothing to do with marketing.

[smallballfan]

Get off of the player, the comment was about not having the basic systems in place to move the players forward.

There's not a major league scout in the business that would use indy stats to judge a player. The scouts know where a player they are interested is playing, marketing or not. They look at the player, not that a guy might have hit 10 home runs off the local high school hero.

[montezuma Federals fan]

http://www.examiner.com/article/kirk...alerts_article

Sometimes all you need is just a small change to shake things up. I did see the Freedom Pro League starting to improve, lets hope the staff can fill in the missing pieces.

[nksports]

We have a local low-budget team in a low-budget summer college wood bat league that is more organized than this so-called professional league. If you can afford to hire a staff, you can't afford to be in this business.

[Eddie]

This had bad news written all over it from the start
http://www.ballparkdigest.com/201207...omic-realities

[montezuma Federals fan]

http://www.examiner.com/article/free...alerts_article

There is nothing from the league about caling it quits. The article's do say there is payment due before they get to use the field, but that is just smart business on the citys part.
Two years ago, the Orange County Flyers folded, owing the university $75,000 for using Goodwin Field. The Orange County Flyers are returning to play this season under new management.

The Schaumburg Flyers baseball team is being evicted from Alexian Field for owing hundreds of thousands in unpaid rent and fees. His team went out of business in December, owing more than $200,000 in back rent to Joliet and at least $300,000 to various vendors, based on lawsuits filed. The replacement team, the Schaumburg Boomers, will begin play in 2012 under new owner Patrick Salvi.

September 22, 2010 (JOLIET, Ill. ) (WLS) -- The future of the Joliet Jackhammers is unclear as the minor league team struggles with financial difficulties. Ferro faced a Joliet City Council that wants over $200,000 in back rent paid. Ferro wants a break on the bill, saying otherwise the Jackhammers will not be able to play. Ferro said he lost over $1.6 million over the last two years even after putting $800,000 of his own money back into the team.
The Joliet Jackhammers were sold in December 2010 after months of negotiations to Steel City Baseball LLC,On January 12th, 2011 GM John Dittrich announced for the 2011 season the new team would be called the Joliet Slammers. The team will continue to use Silver Cross Field as their home venue.

The list could go on and on about independent baseball leagues and teams that folded and came back, so let wait and see what happens next for the Freedom Pro Baseball League.