M’s may move Triple-A team to Portland

PORTLAND — The Seattle Mariners are exploring the possibility of moving their farm team from Tacoma to Portland as soon as 2005, according to a report in The Oregonian.

That would break up Portland’s affiliation with the San Diego Padres, who could possibly land in Reno, Nev., a growing market that the Pacific Coast League would like to enter.

Reno could make sense for San Diego, based on geography. The Padres also used to have a Class A team in Reno.

A Mariners club official told The Oregonian that the Mariners have a comfortable working relationship with the Tacoma PCL franchise, which currently is for sale, but they find the Portland market attractive.

As for the Tacoma team, Rainiers General Manager Dave Lewis said that if the Pacific Coast League leaves town, Tacoma would be a “prime (Class A) Northwest League location.”

Portland is still campaigning for its own major-league franchise. But Major League Baseball officials are wary of putting a team in Portland for fear of weakening one of the league’s most financially successful franchises.

The Mariners have strong support in the Portland market: in 2003, more than 200,000 tickets were bought in the Portland area for Seattle’s 81 home games, an average of more than 2,500 a game.

The discussions come at a time of potential mobility in the Pacific Coast League.

More than half of the league’s 16 teams have player development contracts (PDCs) that expire at the end of this season. A handful — Salt Lake, Tucson, Albuquerque and Colorado Springs — already have re-signed with their affiliates (Anaheim, Arizona, Florida and Colorado, respectively).