[This story has been updated to reflect the Rock Cats’ official announcement as well as tweaked financial figures from Mayor Pedro Segarra’s office.]
The New Britain Rock Cats are no longer the Double A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
The team announced Wednesday afternoon that it had signed with the Colorado Rockies.
The move follows the Twins’ decision not to renew their deal with the Cats, which was reported over the weekend by the St. Paul Pioneer Press, which said the team had doubts about whether or not a Hartford stadium would come to fruition.
The two-year player development contract with the Rockies covers 2015 and 2016.
“We are excited to have a new Major League partnership with the Colorado Rockies and thrilled that they will be part of the Rock Cats exciting future,” Rock Cats owner Josh Solomon said in a statement.
It’s the team’s first affiliation with a National League ball club. And the Rockies roster contains two former Rock Cats standouts — Justin Morneau and Cuddyer, who both helped the team win an Eastern League Championship in 2001.
Meanwhile, Tennessee’s Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that the Twins will announce a new affiliation today with the Chattanooga Lookouts.
The shakeup comes as Hartford city councilors prepare to hold a hearing Wednesday evening on transferring six parcels of land to the would-be developers of a Rock Cats baseball stadium in Downtown North.
Financial Projections Unveiled
Meanwhile, ahead of the hearing, city officials released revenue and cost projections for the ballpark and Downtown North development that show they expect the city to pay just under $4.3 million in lease payments each year to the development group selected to build the park, Downtown North Hartford LLC.
Between 2017 — when the lease payments would start — and 2042, the city projects an average annual deficit of approximately $157,600, the projections show. If the Rock Cats take an optional extension through 2046, the city said it would come out in the black by $22.8 million, with revenue starting in 2015.
The largest top-line source for the city would be real estate and personal property taxes from the developer, followed by parking fees and permits. The Rock Cats would sublease the stadium for $250,000 a year until 2031, when the payment would grow to $350,000.
