It was a great pleasure to talk to Brent Miles about Minor League Baseball franchises! Miles, 35, is currently the President of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the advanced-A affiliate of Los Angeles Dodgers owned by Hall of Famer George Brett, and one of the Principal Owners of the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Short Season A affiliate of Colorado Rockies. He was also the former General Manager of the Tr-City Dust Devils and the former President of the High Desert Mavericks in the California League when Sheng-An Kuo and Kuo-Hui Lo were with the teams

About MiLB Leadership Positions 
Q: What are your educational background and work experience?

I have a Sports Management degree from Baldwin-Wallace University. I have worked in baseball for 16 seasons, started in Spokane, Washington as an unpaid intern for the Spokane Indians. Became General Manager of the High Desert Mavericks in 2001, the President of the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2004 and most recently the President of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2010. 

Q: As the president of a team, what are your job duties?

As in most jobs in Minor League sports, sales is very important. Advance ticket sales is the life-blood of our business, so I focus much of my time with our ticket sales efforts. In addition, I am involved in all the other areas of our business including sponsorship sales, marketing, PR, concessions, operations. The General Manager and I work closely with our Major League affiliate as well. 

Q: What makes your job different as the principle owner, the president, and the general manager of a team?

In our company the Principle Owner is involved in very big picture items like lease negotiations and large construction projects at the ballpark. The President and GM are more involved with the day-to-day operation of the teams. 

Q: Does every Minor League team have a president and a general manager?

Every team is set-up differently, some Minor League teams have a 2 or 3 person staff where the owner is the president and GM. All teams have a GM, sometimes there is a separate President and sometimes it's the same person.

Q: Why did you leave the president job of the High Desert?

There is a Minor League Baseball rule that one person can only own one team in each league. When we bought the Rancho Cucamonga team, which is in the　California League, we were forced to sell the High Desert Mavericks which is also in the California League.



About MLB-MiLB partnership 
Q: How a Minor League team gets affiliated with a major league team?

Every affiliated Minor League team is guaranteed to have a Major League affiliate. There are 30 Major League teams and 30 AAA teams, 30 AA team, 30 high A teams and so on. There is a 2 week period every 2 years where Minor League teams can talk to other Major League teams to decide if you want to switch affiliates.

Q: In the off-season affiliation shuffle, what will happen if a Minor League team cannot find a Major League parent club?

In this scenario, the Minor League team would be assigned a Major League affiliate. Again, there are 30 Major League teams and 30 Minor League teams at each classification, so there is guaranteed to be a partner there for you at the end.

Q: So a Minor league team could find a MLB parent club not in the favor when there is no choice?

Yes, a Minor League team could be assigned a MLB parent if they have not found their own partner.

Q: Who can move a team to the other city, Minor League team or Major League team?

The Minor League team owners, which usually is not the Major League team, can relocate their team to another City if they choose. They must receive League approval before moving, though.

Q: In the teams your work, who owns the stadiums?

All of our Stadiums are owned by the City and the team pays rent as a the primary tenant.

Q:　So a Minor League team will no longer change the ownership if purchased by a Major League team?

If a MLB team buys a Minor League team, they would become affiliate partners for as long as the MLB team owns the Minor League team.
(to be continuted...)