BILLINGS — The Billings Mustangs will lay off three full-time front office employees, an action team owner Dave Heller said is necessary to curb the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic and meet the uncertainty of the 2020 Minor League Baseball season.
Heller informed the staff of the layoffs during a conference call Tuesday.
“We don’t know when the Billings Mustangs are going to be able to play baseball again and under what circumstances. We just don’t know,” Heller told 406mtsports.com during a phone interview.
“Right now we’re in a situation where we’re not able to play baseball, and to have (employees) sitting around with nothing to do because we can’t put people in the ballpark, that doesn’t make any sense.”
Heller did not divulge the names of those who will lose their jobs, but did say that longtime general manager Gary Roller is not among them.
Heller said the layoffs are effective at the end of May. The employees remained on staff over the course of the past eight weeks, Heller said, with help from the Paycheck Protection Program, a loan from the federal government used to assist small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic and the widespread economic shutdown it caused.
Heller said he offered those Mustangs employees being laid off jobs with one of his three other minor league teams under his Main Street Baseball umbrella — the Single-A Lowell Spinners in Massachusetts, the Single-A Quad Cities River Bandits in Iowa, or the Advanced Single-A Wilmington Blue Rocks in Delaware.
“It was an awful day. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Heller said. “These are outstanding people who have done great work who are being laid off due to no fault of their own.”
“I think the world of all the guys who work for the Mustangs and would love to keep each of them in the Main Street Baseball family of teams,” he said. “That's why I offered each of them a position with one of my other clubs. I did not want to leave anybody hanging.”
The 2020 Pioneer League season is scheduled to open June 19, but the likelihood of it beginning on time remains dubious due to various restrictions and health concerns caused by the new coronavirus. There has been no official indication of when an announcement regarding the upcoming season might be released.
Missoula owner Peter Davis and Great Falls team president Scott Reasoner told 406mtsports.com on Tuesday that they are still operating with a full complement of front-office staff.
Heller said everyone is feeling the financial crunch.
“I can't think of an industry anywhere in the country that is as hard hit as minor league baseball, especially short-season ball,” Heller said. “We are likely to go 21 months between our last game and our next game. The idea that we can just continue along with a full staff for 21 months, that's just not a reasonable supposition.”
That said, the viability of the league’s survival is in question after 2020.
As MLB and Minor League Baseball continue to negotiate a new Professional Baseball Agreement, the Pioneer League’s eight teams — which also include Missoula and Great Falls — are among 42 minor league clubs in danger of being stripped of their player development agreements. The survival of most minor league teams is based, in part, to their affiliations with Major League clubs.
Billings has been affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds since 1974. Missoula has been attached to the Arizona Diamondbacks since its inaugural season of 1999, while Great Falls is affiliated with the Chicago White Sox.
Heller said he hasn't thrown in the towel yet on 2020 or beyond, but said he also isn't naive to what might be coming.
“We are hoping that we'll be able to play again. And if we play again then we would obviously need to hire staff,” Heller said. “But we just can’t continue to go along like the coronavirus has never happened and that the likely contraction of the Pioneer League is not happening.
“You just can’t be an ostrich and stick your head in the sand and pretend it’s not happening.”
In the meantime, the Mustangs, Missoula and Great Falls have received public support from Montana’s political delegation, which has lent its voice in the effort to preserve the teams’ MLB affiliations and player development agreements for 2021 and thereafter.
Photos: A look at the storied history of the Billings Mustangs
A look at the storied history of the Billings Mustangs
Watch Now: Retrospective | A look at the storied history of the Billings Mustangs
Billings Mustangs outfielders, 1948
Billings Mustangs players, 1948
Billings Mustangs manager Charlie Root, 1948
Billings Mustangs, 1948
Billings Mustangs players, 1950
Billings Mustangs batboys, 1950
Billings Mustangs players, 1957
Billings Mustangs players, 1959
Billings Mustangs batting practice, 1976
Little League night at Cobb Field, 1976
Billings Mustangs vs. Idaho Falls Angels, June, 1976
Cobb Field scoreboard, 1976
Hugh Kemp, 1983
Billings Mustangs celebrate
Billings Mustangs vs. Salt Lake City Trappers, 1992
Billings Mustangs opening night, June 16, 2001
Billings Mustangs opening night, June 16, 2001
Billings Mustangs celebrate winning the Pioneer League Championship, 2001
Billings Mustangs players celebrate winning the Pioneer League Championship, September, 2003
Billings Mustangs 2014 Pioneer League Championship