Well, it seems like the pieces are coming together after we lost the Braves to Gwinnett County.
Today’s T-D seems to make official all of the speculation: Bryan Bostic’s group has made an offer to purchase a franchise. They can’t say which one – but the T-D says it’s the Connecticut Defenders of the Eastern League (double-A), and that was pretty much the one everyone thought it might be.
The most authoritative Internet site on Minor League Ball, Mike McCann’s Minor League Baseball Page, already lists the move as a done deal.
The Defenders would play 2009 in Norwich, CT, then move to the Diamond in 2010. The franchise has a 2-year Player Development Contract with San Francisco, which would be valid through the 2010 season here.
The Washington Nationals’ PDC with Harrisburg of the Eastern League expires after the 2010 season as well. So… anyone ready for the Richmond Nationals’ opening day in April 2011? 
If all goes well, the Richmond franchise would move to a new Shockoe Bottom ballpark in 2012. If all doesn’t go well, it might be a year or two longer.
No word on whether the independent Atlantic League will play some games in Richmond in 2009, as was previously speculated.
Some background on the Eastern League: Richmond would be the southernmost franchise in the league. Current teams are located in Akron (OH), Altoona (PA), Binghamton (NY), Bowie (MD), Erie (PA), Harrisburg (PA), New Britain (CT), Manchester (NH), Portland (ME), Reading (PA), Trenton (NJ), and the lame-duck Norwich (CT) franchise. Clearly, Richmond and Bowie would be paired off for travel purposes – visiting teams would often play back-to-back series in both cities – but travel for a Richmond Eastern League franchise would be… extensive.
Keeping in mind that double-A baseball is the real developmental level these days – triple-A (where the R-Braves were) is more of a parking lot for has-beens and never-weres – this might lead to more exciting, and competitive, baseball. One can only hope.
You better not take the defenders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry to say it’s basically a done deal. The purchase will be announced in March or September (Minor League Baseball doesn’t announce ownership changes in-season).
But since the Defenders’ owner has been quoted as saying he’d prefer to put a team in the NY-Penn League, you guys weren’t going to keep the team anyway. Someone was going to buy it — it was just a Richmond group that got there…
[...] Speaking of screwing up a good thing,the Richmond area’s continued dithering about where baseball should be played cost us the first try at bringing the Connecticut Defenders in for 2010. The Eastern League is rushing to get a team in here before the independent Atlantic League does – so there will be baseball, in Richmond, in 2010. After that? Who knows? There’s a fairly inexpensive plan to lop the upper deck off the Diamond and renovate the lower deck… and then there’s the plan to pave over hundreds of years of history in Shockoe Bottom. The SportsQuest folks who are (slowly) building a sports complex in Chesterfield have also indicated they might build a ballpark. Someday. Richmond is going to screw this up, mark my words… [...]
I think you are right about Richmond, or somebody screwing this up. One of the comments following the TD’s last article about this more news about no news said it best. “Something just doesn’t smell right here.”