STANDARDS BEARERS

Even when the Lowell Spinners were left out of the 120 teams tapped to remain in Major League Baseball’s restructured minor league system, the hope remained that before long, affiliated baseball would return to the city of 115,000 that lies to the north of Boston. When the Spinners were left off the list of remaining affiliated teams, the Red Sox came out with a statement explaining how they were working to ensure baseball would return to Lowell, Boston’s short-season New York-Penn League affiliate for the previous 25 years.

Initially, it was believed that $10 million in stadium upgrades would ensure that LeLacheur Park met the new Professional Development License facility standards that MLB will require of minor league teams beginning in 2025.

If Lowell upgraded its stadium, the expectation for many around the minors was that the Red Sox would relocate their Salem, Va., affiliate to Lowell. Boston would then shift High-A Greenville to the Low-A Carolina League—taking the place of Salem—with Lowell fitting into the Northeast component of the High-A South Atlantic League.

But the price tag for the LeLacheur Park upgrades kept growing. What was a $10 million project soon grew to an estimated $30 million. The Andover (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune recently pegged the cost at $40 million.

Thanks to the sticker shock of a project that had expanded in scope by a factor