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For Smith and the Spinners, it’s uncertainty times two

By Tom King - Staff Writer | May 1, 2020

So, you want to be a minor league baseball general manager or executive?

Not now, you don’t.

In this health crisis, their minds must be racing, like many people’s are. They shrug their shoulders, or roll their eyes when see a report – since emphatically denied — like the one that popped up in the middle of the week saying the plug is already pulled on the entire minor league baseball season around the country by orders of Major League Baseball.

MiLB’s definite denial may have given GMs a sigh of relief, but they know that possibility truly exists. Minor league players, like Merrimack’s Mickey Gasper, wait and wonder.

But how would you like to be Shawn Smith, the general manager of the nearby Lowell Spinners? Many in the Nashua area know Smith from his original tour of duty with the Spinners. He’s in his second Lowell stint, but not only does he have to deal with the uncertainty of a season due to the pandemic, he also has to be concerned about the Spinners future overall.

That’s thanks to Major League Baseball’s stated desire in negotiations for a new contract to eliminate some 42 minor league teams, especially short season ones like the Spinners.

Now there’s been word that Lowell may not be contracted, as it makes no sense as the team has been successful for some 25 years.

But what would happen? Would Lowell be long season? All sorts of further uncertainty.

Smith, also a former Fisher Cats GM, is adamant he won’t speculate.

His priority is dealing with the first problem, the question of a 2020 season. The short season league the Spinners are in, the New York-Penn League is already in mourning after the loss of Tri-City Valleycats (Troy, N.Y.) owner Bill Gladstone Thursday night due to COVID-19. Gladstone, 88, was highly respected.

As Smith said, “What this pandemic has really re-affirmed to me is we have to take care of each other,” he said, referring to the entire minor league baseball community. “The way I approach it is I have to look at what I can control. What I can control is how we serve the Boston Red Sox (the Spinners’ parent club).

He will wait for what the negotiated word is regarding 2021 while hoping to be able to have a season in 2020. There won’t be one comment one way or another while negotiations are ongoing.

“We have to trust in the process,” he said. “Whatever happens going forward, we will react accordingly.”

It’s a double whammy for some minor league teams. For others, like the Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in Manchester, they have just this pandemic uncertainty and speculation to deal with. Games with no fans allowed mean games without revenue. No season, no revenue. Ouch.

Minor league baseball fans in the area wait and wonder, as rumors abound. But it’s one thing to worry about 2020, but another when you add 2021 to the list.

Tom King can be reached at 594-1251, tking@nashuatelegraph.com., or @Telegraph_TomK.

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