The Tucson Padres could find a permanent home about 320 miles east of here beginning in 2014.
MountainStar Sports, an ownership group pursuing a Triple-A team for El Paso, met with the Pacific Coast League Executive Committee last week and hopes to buy the Tucson Padres, the El Paso Times has reported.
MountainStar, based in El Paso, hopes to convince the PCL that the Texas city is ready to permanently host a Triple-A team beginning in 2014.
The El Paso city council voted last week to move ahead with plans to build a $50 million baseball stadium, which is expected to be completed before the '14 season.
With the Tucson Padres currently for sale, MountainStar will pursue the team and try to relocate it.
There is no Tucson ownership group aiming to keep the Padres in town, said Padres general manager Mike Feder. "There have been opportunities for that to happen, and it hasn't occurred," Feder said.
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The Padres moved to Tucson from Portland, Ore., before the 2011 season for what was supposed to be one season while a stadium was built in Escondido, Calif. That fell through, and the team returned to Tucson for a second season.
Feder announced this week the Padres will return for the 2013 season. That appears to be the final one.
The PCL would have to approve the sale, which seems to be the main hurdle left. The PCL outlined four major steps to the Times for a team to be sold and relocated.
• There has to be a team for sale.
• There has to be a viable ownership group.
• There has to be an agreement with the new city.
• The league has to approve the deal.
El Paso appears to have three of those steps done. League approval is the only one left.
Tucson has struggled to support the Padres in their two seasons here. Last year's total attendance of 242,136 ranked last in the PCL. This year's total of 120,848 is also last and behind last year's pace.
Feder thought Year 2 would be different, and it hasn't been.
"I thought we could overcome the perception that the stadium was too far away, and we couldn't," Feder said. "That bothers me."
Tucson manager Terry Kennedy said the team is aware of a potential move, but not worried about it.
"It's interesting to us, but not essential," Kennedy said.
"There's so much up in the air, we're just focusing on playing the games."
Today
• What: Tucson Padres at Las Vegas
• When: 7:05 p.m.
• Radio: 1600-AM
