WBU halts Underground minor league refresh

[Underground]

London, GB -

Winters Baseball Unlimited today announced a "temporary" pause to the ongoing Underground minor league refresh project. The refresh project was first announced at the 2037 PEBA Winter Meetings and was kicked off with the rebrand of the team's AAA affiliate the Leeds Rhinos which became the Leeds Locomotives. The project was set to be a multi-year effort which would see each level of the team's minor league organization getting a refresh similar to Leeds each year until they were all completed. Now, less than 24 hours before the 2038 Winter Meetings are set to kick off the Underground ownership group have poured ice water on the hopes and expectations of fans, particularly those in Liverpool who were anticipating a big announcement about their franchise this weekend.

In the press release, the announcement explained the reason behind the decision as "wishing to focus entirely on our PEBA endeavors and ensuring we put our best foot forward for the 2038 season" but already fans and sports media alike are speculating a correlation to the financial state of the team in light of the bombshell financial documents leaked earlier this offseason. Reached for comment, the Winters Baseball Unlimited office pointed to the press release and doubled down on their focus being on the 2038 season. When pressed on the financial state of the team the organization refused to comment and promptly hung up. The front office of the Underground similarly had little to say; "Decisions regarding the minor league franchises ultimately reside with WBU rather than our office. While we are disappointed and surprised by the decision, we don't anticipate it will have any impact in the on-field product in London or any of our affiliated minor league franchises this year. We hope, for our minor league fans, that the project is resumed soon".

Despite the financial drama surrounding the team the move is nonetheless considered a surprise by many, as former Underground General Manager and now Owner Cyan Winters was very outspoken in his disdain for the minor league franchises current branding and this effort was his first major announcement as team owner. Many surmised that, especially with the Winter Meetings so close, the project was unaffected. It is unlikely we'll ever fully understand the circumstances that led up to this decision. It should be noted that the press release there was an expressed expectation that this was a pause and not a cancellation of the project and, if taken at their word, Winters Baseball Unlimited fully anticipates continuing this effort at some time in the future. No timeline was shared for that, however.

Anonymous sources suggest the mood in the Underground front office remains extremely tense but notes that the team has been unusually active on the trade market and does seem determined to do what it can to ignore all of the distractions around them by putting their heads down and figuring out how to field the best possible baseball team for 2038 and beyond. Looking ahead to the Winter Meetings, the team is hoping to continue to make moves and will attempt to swing as many deals as possible during the meetings.