Not so fast, nuts.
After the city of Modesto and the Seattle Mariners announced on July 10 that this season would be the last for the Modesto Nuts at John Thurman Field, a new way to keep the professional club in the city is now being considered.
On Friday afternoon, the City of Modesto posted a press release on its social media channels saying that an amended lease for the John Thurman Field property had been discussed and the City Council would vote on it at its next meeting on Tuesday. The city owns the land, stadium and parking facilities that make up John Thurman Field at 601 Neece Drive.
The details of the possible agreement are included in the Council’s agenda, but they had not yet been finalised on Friday evening.
The terms of the lease would include, among others:
- The Nuts (owned by the Mariners) would pay an annual lease of $600,000 for 2025, with $75,000 to be retained by the team to make capital improvements to John Thurman Field required by Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, and the MLB and MiLB Players Associations;
- The Nuts/Mariners would have to bear all ongoing repair and maintenance costs;
- At the end of the 2025 season, the Nuts would have to provide the city of Modesto with an accounting showing how the withheld funds were used. Any amount not used for capital improvements would then be paid to the city. The city also claims that the revenue it would receive from the Nuts/Mariners could fully cover the general fund costs of operating John Thurman Field;
- The Nuts/Mariners would also agree that during the lease term, which runs through December 2026, they would not enter into negotiations with any other city or entity in Stanislaus County for the development or redevelopment of a baseball or multi-purpose sports facility;
- The city and the Nuts/Mariners would agree that if a new, long-term lease for John Thurman Field is not reached by April 1, negotiations would end and the team would move out by October 1, 2025, unless otherwise agreed to in writing.
The proposed resolution, if adopted, will authorize City Manager Joe Lopez to complete the lease amendment subject to negotiated terms. The council meeting will be held Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at 1010 10th St., Lower Level, Modesto. A livestream of the meeting and the full agenda are available at www.modestogov.com/659/City-Council.
The new lease terms come after the city of Modesto and the Mariners resumed talks over the past two weeks. The Modesto Bee first reported that the two sides met behind closed doors beginning Aug. 13. It remains to be seen who initiated the talks and how far they have progressed.
The city-owned baseball stadium itself, built in 1955, was the focus of lease negotiations last year. According to a memo to the Modesto City Council, Major League Baseball had requested renovations worth approximately $32,054,611 to bring the facility up to professional standards.
These renovations included:
- Larger clubhouses for both teams with improved lockers;
- Catering, food preparation and dining areas for home and visiting teams;
- Improved training facilities for players, including weight rooms and multiple pitching and batting tunnels;
- Separate areas for female employees;
- Brighter stadium lighting.
According to the memo, the city has paid $1.3 million to invest in the renovation of John Thurman Field since 2017. Since 2018, the city has also raised an additional $3 million for the stadium’s operating costs.
The memo also said attendance in 2023 was 87,967, compared to 96,365 in 2022. Both numbers were well above the 42,200 attendance in 2021, which was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but remained well below the 139,762 fans who streamed through the gates in 2019 before the pandemic hit.
The Seattle Mariners became part owners of the Modesto Nuts in October 2017, along with private ownership group HWS. In November 2020, the Mariners took full ownership of the company. As a member of Seattle’s farm system, the Nuts have won two California League titles, the first in 2017 and the most recent last fall. In their history, Modesto has hoisted the championship flag 10 times since becoming a professional team in 1946 when they joined the California League as an independent. With 77 years under their belt, Modesto is the longest-running team in the league.
As of Saturday morning, the Nuts have eight regular-season home games remaining this year, with the last one scheduled for Sept. 8 against the Stockton Ports. After winning the California League North Division title in the first half in June, Modesto is guaranteed at least one home game in the postseason, Game 2 of the 2024 California League North Division playoffs on Sept. 12. They would also host Game 3 of the series if needed.
