Sports

Minor League Team Says The Yankees And MLB Are Guilty Of Being Bullies

If there is no written correspondence to rely upon in arguing its claims, it could be an uphill battle for the very displeased Nostalgic Partners, LLC.

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The New York Yankees and Major League Baseball are being sued for “bullying conduct” and failing to perform on alleged promises made.

On December 3, the club and league were sued by Nostalgic Partners LLC, which is the owner of a baseball team that, until recently, was a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the MLB organization. That team, the Staten Island Yankees, was left without affiliation, as part of MLB’s plan to contract its Minor League Baseball system and reduce the number of teams to 120 from 160.

Nostalgic Partners LLC claims that it acquired the Staten Island Yankees in 2011 after it was assured that the team would continue its affiliation with the MLB team and continue to participate in the New York-Penn League, which is part of the parent club Yankees’ farm system. It says that it relied on such promise, now to its detriment, and deserves to be compensated millions of dollars in damages.

“Defendants’ false promises and unlawful conduct have caused the SI Yankees significant harm, in that they have destroyed the SI Yankees’ business model and doomed the SI Yankees to oblivion,” the complaint states. The plaintiff is seeking no less than $20 million in relief from any of eight claimed counts in its complaint, which includes causes of action for breach of contract and promissory estoppel.

“Their suit against the Yankees is baseless in that they’re claiming they had assurances from the Yankees they would ‘always be a minor league partner,’ but that was under the old system in which clubs had PDCs (player development contracts) with the minor leagues,” said Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. “Those have been eliminated. The Staten Island owners also asserted that as recently as last March, Yankee officials were expressing contentment with Staten Island as their affiliate — but that was because the Yankees were one of the few major league teams opposing the contraction plan and hoped the short season rookie leagues would be maintained.”

Ultimately, the case could come down to what specific assurances were provided by the New York Yankees and/or MLB to Nostalgic Partners, LLC that allegedly induced the ownership group to purchase the Staten Island team. The burden of proof will be placed on the plaintiff and, if there is no written correspondence to rely upon in arguing its claims, it could be an uphill battle for the very displeased Nostalgic Partners, LLC.

“Defendants can gleefully play the bully, but established law makes them liable for this bullying conduct,” the complaint states.

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Darren Heitner is the founder of Heitner Legal. He is the author of How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, published by the American Bar Association, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @DarrenHeitner.

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