The Amberjacks: Minor league baseball team appears headed to Monterey – The Mercury News

Monterey – Nearly 20 years after the Salinas Peppers folded, it appears pro baseball will make its return to Monterey County in 2017.

If all goes according to plan, the Monterey Amberjacks will join the Bakersfield Train Robbers, the YardBirds, who will be based in Adelanto, and the Arizona-based Tucson Saguaros in a division of the Pecos League. Commissioner Andrew Dunn said he’s also been in discussion with other California cities, which could add more teams to the Western Division in 2017.

The Amberjacks will call Frank E. Sollecito Ballpark home.

“We will be playing Saturdays and Sundays in Monterey, without disrupting the youth schedule or the existing schedule, and we’ll be playing Mondays in Hollister,” Dunn said.

According to Monterey City Manager Mike McCarthy, Dunn reached out to him three weeks ago to ask if Monterey had any interest in joining his independent minor league baseball organization. Dunn flew out to Monterey earlier in the month and continued his discussions with McCarthy.

“He loved everything he saw and thought it could be a good fit for a third California team,” McCarthy said.

The California League — which, as opposed to independent leagues like the Pecos League, has teams like the San Jose Giants who are affiliated with Major League Baseball squads as part of their farm systems — announced in August it would be contracting the Bakersfield Blaze and the High Desert Mavericks. The Pecos League decided to fill the void left by those teams with the Train Robbers and YardBirds.

Bakersfield Blaze owner D.G. Elmore attempted to move his team to Salinas before talks broke off in 2014. During that time, McCarthy said he also spoke with the Blaze about moving to Monterey.

Dunn first reached out to Salinas. When he heard Municipal Stadium had been demolished, officials directed him to Monterey.

“It’s a gem in many ways,” Dunn said about Sollecito Ballpark, which recently got a new artificial turf outfield.

McCarthy said the biggest hurdle to clear was be making sure to not interrupt the schedules of youth leagues, adult leagues or the Monterey High School baseball team.

“We’re looking internally to see if we can make it work,” he said. “We’ve come up with dates that can work for everybody. We’re going to go to the Parks and Rec Commission early in January to get their thoughts on the specifics and potentially (the City Council) on Jan. 17.”

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Dunn said he plans on flying back out to Monterey for the scheduled Jan. 17 meeting.

The other hurdles, which McCarthy said he wasn’t too worried about, would be working out concessions with the existing concessionaire and figuring out parking.

“We won’t really be able to determine parking until we learn how many people will come,” he said. “But the parking garage is only a 10-minute walk.”

According to McCarthy, the city would bring the team in on a one-year trial to see if it makes sense for the community.

“Monterey’s always been a baseball town,” he said. “We hosted the Bronco World Series for 20 years straight, I think this is just another way to bring back an activity that people would really enjoy.”

The Pecos League started in 2011. Its players are age 25 or younger and play 64-game seasons. According to the league’s website, a total of 249 players have moved up from the Pecos League to higher levels and Dunn said four Pecos League alums have made it onto major league 40-man rosters. Fox Sports 1 ran a reality show about the league in 2014.

The Salinas Peppers played in the independent Western Baseball League from 1995-97. Before the Peppers, the Spurs and other California League teams called Salinas home.

Dunn said the Amberjacks will play 16 games in Monterey and the team plans on hosting youth camps. The Pecos League starts in May and a tentative schedule is posted online at montereyamberjacks.com.

If the plans all come together, the team will announce its players and coaches in the coming months. The team also will hire staff and look for host families for its players.

Amberjacks are sport fish, though Dunn acknowledged the name also plays on Monterey Jack.

Tommy Wright can be reached at 831-726-4375.